Ravineo’s AI Tech Finds that 80% of Influencers Don't Disclose Brand Deals

The evolution of influencer marketing has brought unparalleled opportunities for brands. But it's also created some murky tactics, including undeclared partnerships and hidden collaborations. That's where marketing analytics platform Ravineo, which officially launched on Nov. 12, comes in. Ravineo lets brands and agencies make smarter, data-driven decisions about their influencer strategies in real time, using AI to identify where and when brands are mentioned on social media. This month, Ravineo launched its Influencer Analytics feature to improve understanding of brand exposure across influencer content. "What we bring in is AI to detect the brands automatically," said Jan Rezab, CEO and co-founder of Ravineo. "Frankly, we're just taking what was there, and doing it through AI and being smart and standardized about it." Ravineo uses AI technology to help brands identify all brand mentions on platforms such as Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok, including undisclosed partnerships and hidden collaborations, so they can fully understand the impact of their influencer relationships. Although Rezab wouldn't say which brands use the platform, (firms have had access since Feb), he said it counts some of the largest beauty and fashion brands as clients. It is currently working with 100 companies and more than 1,000 users are on the platform for its capabilities like auditing influencers, listing, tracking, reporting, and researching. "[Brands] came to us and said, 'Look, we got to have some structure here,'" said Rezab. Distinguishing branded from non-branded content A significant issue in the creator space is the challenge of distinguishing branded content from non-branded content, said Rezab. Creators have found that labeling a post as "sponsored content" does not always achieve the same level of engagement as posts that do not have that label. In Ravineo's November 2024 analysis of over 70,000 influencer posts (including images and videos) on Instagram, 13,432 were identified as partnerships. Of these partnerships, 80% were not labeled as such, while only 19% were properly indicated. The team established criteria to define what qualifies as a “sponsored post.” Using its AI index tool, the visibility of a brand in a post determines the likelihood of it being a sponsored post. The index operates on a scale from one to 10, with 10 representing "super-prominent." This study only considers posts rated as nine or 10. Through manual verification, over 90% of these posts were confirmed to be sponsored, said Rezab. "We know by the brands directly that these are paid partnerships—and we know they are not declared," said Rezab When creators don't label a post as "branded content," it's more challenging for brands to evaluate the success of the content and figure out whether the creator is the right fit. "What the platforms expect is the brands to pick up the tab and do the boost," said Rezab. "I don't think that's quite fair." Identifying brands in video Another important challenge that brands may encounter is the mention of their products in videos. Platforms such as YouTube are beginning to offer features that let creators tag products within their videos, but this practice is not yet universal among all creators. With Ravineo's technology, a brand or user can upload a video for the AI tool to analyze and determine whether a brand's product has been mentioned. "We got to results that are way over 90% accurate when it comes to detecting brands in a video," said Rezab. Mentioning the brand in a post's comments is not necessary, he explains; the AI tool can detect whether a brand or product has been mentioned in a video, so brands can measure reach and impressions for content related to partnerships, even when a creator does not explicitly mention the brand. Additionally, it can help brands discover new creators to collaborate with based on the impressions a product receives in a video from a creator they might be interested in working with. "We have an insane roadmap," said Rezab, pointing to future features Ravineo plans to offer, like hyper-local results for New York restaurants wanting to learn about their mentions or menu use.

Influencers & Creators

Ravineo’s AI Tech Finds that 80% of Influencers Don't Disclose Brand Deals

The firm's Influencer Analytics feature helps brands understand influencer collaborations

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Colin Daniels

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