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Why is online brand safety important for online advertising?

By Maria_Serra

June 26, 2023

Why Is Online Brand Safety Important for Online Advertising?

Why is online brand safety important? Cybersecurity continues to be a point of concern for online businesses across the world, as cybercriminals adapt and upgrade their malvertising attempts to continue spreading their criminal activity. To be more precise, statistics indicate that there are 2,200 cyberattacks per day, with one happening every 39 seconds on average. This means that there is big room for hackers to breach an ad network or publisher brand by injecting malvertising into the ad supply chain - Also, it is worth bearing in mind that poor quality ads can also directly affect the advertisers’ brand, because for instance, if the ad creative is squashed or too heavy to show, ait can end up being blocked by Google. As malvertising trends keep evolving and growing overtime, so does the demand for security monitoring to maintain online brand safety.

How to maintain brand safety online?

An ad network or publisher’s online brand safety and reputation are highly valuable since their publisher clients (As well as end users visiting these publishers clients’ websites) gain trust with them through online interactions, and they will decide whether they are trustworthy or not depending on the quality and safety of this online interaction - Their decision will ultimately inform whether they use the ad network in the future in the case of a publisher, or visit a specific website again in the case of an end user. So, online brand safety is essential to ensure appropriate brand recognition and image consistency, ultimately affecting brand revenues and overall business health. Also, once an online brand’s image is damaged, it is very difficult to regain that trust, which makes it extra important to implement effective online brand safety solutions in order to maintain online brand safety.

In order to maintain brand safety online at all times it is important for ad networks and publishers to implement an ad safety solution that uses advanced and powerful technology to ensure full ad chain protection and helps them meet the IAB industry standards. If as a publisher you use an ad network that has integrated a solution like AdSecure to keep their ad campaigns compliant pre and post-launch, you are ensuring that your end users are not exposed to malvertising or non-compliant or poor-quality ads, keeping them, and also your brand, safe at all times.

Why is online brand safety important for publishers?

So, Why is online brand safety important for publishers? - Publishers work directly with advertisers or ad networks, making their websites available as advertising space. Because advertiser campaigns will appear on their website and will reflect on their brand image directly, it is extra important for them to ensure that these ad campaigns are compliant and free from malvertising - They need to keep their website free from bad quality ads that are offensive, harmful or inappropriate, in order to keep their end users and brand image safe.

Also, publishers that monetize their traffic should only show ads that are appropriate and consistent with their site’s content to maximize ad spending, since their users will be more likely to be interested in the ads, increasing conversion rates. Plus, ads that fit within the interests of a website’s audience are more likely to provide a great user experience, which will contribute to improving a publisher’s brand reputation.

Why is online brand safety important for ad networks?

Why is online brand safety important for ad networks? - Ad networks play a crucial role for both advertisers and publishers, by only approving ads that are high quality and monitoring full campaigns pre and also post launch in real-time, in order to block non-compliant ads and malvertising attempts. All ad networks should have a duty to be responsible for compliance tasks, and to maintain online brand safety for all players involved, including their ad network business itself.

5 best cybersecurity practices to ensure brand safety for publishers

Independently of your role in online advertising, the following best cybersecurity practices to ensure brand safety will help you to build a brand reputation, steering clear from malvertising attacks such as Malware, Scareware or other online ad safety threats. Continuing on 5 best cybersecurity practices to ensure brand safety for publishers: 

1# Publishers should block certain advertising campaigns with content they don’t want to show to their audience, either because it isn’t safe or compliant, or simply doesn’t fit with their site’s focus.

2# Publishers need to think about matching suitable ad campaigns with the right verticals. For example, if you have a dating website, maybe you don’t want to allow other advertisers to use your ad zones to promote their dating offer, in order to protect your own Dating brand.

3# Monitor campaigns in real-time for malvertising, hidden malicious code and malicious landing pages in an ad campaign.

4# Select a reputable ad network or programmatic platform to work with and monetize your ads safely, so speak with them to make sure they have a good ad monitoring and compliance solution.

5# Use AdSecure as your all in one 360 degree ad compliance solution.

How to keep your ads safe with AdSecure: Best cybersecurity practices to ensure brand safety for publishers

AdSecure’s advanced technology provides 360-degree monitoring and protection for your ad campaigns by automating brand safety processes. With AdSecure you can detect and eliminate malicious ads, detect non-compliant ads, identify unsafe and inappropriate content, and ensure that you will only receive ads that are of high quality by measuring them against the IAB industry standards.

If you are looking for a reputable ad safety solution to help protect online brand safety for publishers, AdSecure is the preferred choice: By implementing AdSecure you will have access to comprehensive reports listing all malicious and bad-quality ads in order to help you take immediate action.

Final thoughts

According to AdSecure’s Q1 2023 Violation Report, almost 1 in 20 scans detected 4 or more violations in a malicious ad campaign during that period. This represents a fairly significant threat to online brand safety - If an end user clicks on a malicious ad on your website, this could seriously impact their device safety and compromise their personal data, also damaging your reputation as a publisher. That means that it is key for any online brand, large or small, to protect itself against cyber criminal activity. With this purpose, brands need to empower their processes to maintain ad quality and brand safety online against digital damage and disruption.

Want to maintain ad quality and brand safety online? You are in the right place! Try out our 14 day free trial and keep your ads safe with AdSecure!

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