What are bad placements and how do we find them?

Placing your display ads on the right websites can make all the difference. To maximize brand awareness, valid traffic and return on ad spend, it's crucial to ensure that your ads appear on reputable and relevant sites. That's why we've developed Display Gate Guard. We scan your entire placement list, evaluating each site against several critical aspects. Here's how each aspect can help you improve your website placements and enhance the effectiveness of your display ads:

1. Controversial Websites

Controversial websites often attract attention due to their polarizing content, but this attention can be negative. Ads placed on such sites can inadvertently associate your brand with contentious topics, potentially damaging your reputation. A worst case scenario could be, that your ads are displayed on sanctioned websites, as recently reported by Deutsche Welle (DW). Our tool helps you avoid these pitfalls by identifying and flagging controversial sites, ensuring your brand maintains a positive and neutral image.

2. Hyperpolitical and Extremist Websites

Websites with hyperpolitical or extremist content can be particularly harmful to your brand. Aligning with such sites, even unintentionally, can alienate potential customers and create a backlash. One would think, that the large players in the tech game would make sure to avoid having their customers ads appear on these sites. The Guardian recently reported that this might not always be the case. By scanning for these websites, we help you steer clear of placements that could associate your brand with divisive or extremist views, protecting your brand’s integrity and appeal.

3. Websites That Contain Adult Content

Adult content websites can attract a specific audience that might not align with your brand’s target demographic. Additionally, these sites can lead to a perception of impropriety and harm your brand’s image. Similar to the above mentioned case of ads being display on sanctioned sites, ads also sometimes appear on pornographic and explicit websites, as reported by CampaignUS

4. Websites That Contain Content About Guns and Firearms

Depending on your brand's values and target audience, websites focusing on guns and firearms might be inappropriate for your ads. These sites can be controversial and may not resonate with all consumer segments. Our tool helps you identify and exclude these sites from your placement list, aligning your ads with safer and more widely accepted content.

5. Websites That Revolve Around Kids Content

While websites focusing on kids' content can be beneficial for brands targeting families and young audiences, they might not be suitable for all types of products or services. While rarely a brand safety issue, brand suitability is certainly diminished if your product is meant for an older demographic.

6. Websites That Deal With Gambling

Gambling websites can be problematic due to their association with addiction and financial instability. Placing ads on these sites can harm your brand’s reputation and alienate customers who disapprove of gambling. Products advertised on these sites also tend to be perceived as cheap.

7. Made-for-Advertising Websites, Including Low-Quality Articles and Clickbait Headlines

One of the biggest money-drainers for advertisers are websites designed purely for advertising, often filled with low-quality articles and clickbait headlines. They can not only diminish the perceived value of your brand, but also yield low brand awareness and invalid traffic due to ad clutter and bots. These sites also often provide poor user experiences and can lead to high bounce rates. By identifying and excluding these sites, our tool helps ensure that your ads are placed on reputable, high-quality websites that enhance your brand’s credibility and improve awareness, traffic and sales metrics.

8. Number of Ad Slots on a Website - In Comparison to the Amount of Actual Content

By looking at the number of ad slots and comparing that to the amount of actual, valuable content, we get an indicator on how engaged the audience of the website might be. Imagine reading a large, in-depth analysis of a topic that interests you, followed by a display ad. You are more likely to perceive the ad, than if you've read a shallow, three-paragraph article, with five ads cluttered all around. Lots of ads on a website might not be bad per se - if there is enough valuable content that keeps the user engaged and interested. Ad clutter on the other hand should be avoided at all cost.

Conclusion

In todays world of digital advertising, where ad budgets are tight as attention is low, picking the right placement for your ads can determine whether your marketing campaign succeeds or fails.

Display Gate Guard helps advertisers with a comprehensive approach, ensuring that your ads are placed on websites that align with your brand values and target audience, enhancing your overall advertising effectiveness. By avoiding brand safety issues like controversial or hyperpolitical content, as well as brand suitability issues like wrong demographic or low-quality advertising sites, you can protect your brand’s reputation and maximize your advertising ROI.

Take the guesswork out of your display ad placements, contact us now and find out how you can extract the best value out of your display campaigns!

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Ad Clutter And The Fight For Awareness

October 25, 2024

Find out about strategies to overcome ad clutter. Display Gate Guard analyzes the amount of ads in comparison to the content on a website, in order to determine the effectiveness of your ads

How to Avoid Low Quality Display Websites

What Are Low-Quality Display Websites and How Do They Affect Your Campaign?

August 17, 2024

Understanding Low-Quality Website Placements: Types, Impact, and Examples . The quality of website placements is a critical factor that can determine the success or failure of a display campaign. Low-quality website placements not only waste advertising budgets but can also harm a brand’s reputation. In this article, we’ll explore the different types of low-quality website placements, analyze their characteristics, and discuss their impact on digital advertising. 1. Made-for-Advertising (MFA) Websites Made-for-Advertising (MFA) websites are created primarily to generate revenue through advertising rather than to provide valuable content or services to users. These sites often have a high ad-to-content ratio, meaning the majority of the webpage is dominated by ads rather than meaningful content. Common tactics include clickbait headlines, rapidly refreshing ads, autoplay videos, and poor navigation that forces users to click through multiple pages to access content. Examples: Gossip and Speculative Sites: Websites filled with sensationalist content or speculative gossip often fall into this category. These sites may tarnish a brand’s reputation by associating it with unreliable or scandalous content. Health MFA Sites: These websites spread misinformation about health topics and can mislead consumers, eroding trust and potentially leading to legal repercussions for associated brands. Coupon and Deal Sites: These sites lure users with discounts but often dilute brand value by promoting a constant bargain-hunting mentality. Impact: MFA websites have a detrimental impact on advertising effectiveness. Ads placed on these sites often receive low engagement and high bounce rates, as the primary intent of the site is to maximize ad impressions rather than user satisfaction. Furthermore, these placements can lead to wasted ad spend, with estimates suggesting that MFA sites account for 21% of impressions and represent 15% of ad spend in programmatic advertising. 2. AI-Generated Junk Websites With the advent of AI, a new breed of low-quality websites has emerged. These sites are filled with AI-generated content that is often riddled with errors, irrelevant, or completely nonsensical. These websites are designed to attract programmatic ads by creating a large volume of content quickly and cheaply. Despite their low quality, they often escape detection due to the sheer volume and sophistication of their content generation methods. Examples: AI-Generated News Sites: Some sites use AI to produce hundreds of articles per day, many of which are of extremely low quality or contain harmful misinformation. These sites may even feature fake author bios and AI-generated images to appear legitimate. Content Farms: Websites that churn out massive amounts of AI-generated content to attract ads are increasingly common. These sites often rely on programmatic advertising to generate revenue, making them a significant concern for advertisers. Impact: The proliferation of AI-generated junk websites is a growing problem in digital advertising. These sites not only waste advertising budgets but also contribute to a lower-quality internet experience, potentially harming brand trust. The use of AI makes these sites harder to detect, exacerbating the problem. 3. Copycat Websites Copycat websites mimic the appearance and functionality of legitimate sites, but their sole purpose is to divert traffic and generate ad revenue. Fake news websites, on the other hand, spread misinformation under the guise of legitimate news. Both types of sites often have poorly designed templates, generic content, and an excessive number of ads. Examples: Copycat Sites: These sites might replicate the design of popular e-commerce or informational websites to confuse users and capture ad revenue. For example, a fake version of a popular news site might trick users into thinking they are on a legitimate platform. Impact: Advertising on copycat and fake news websites can lead to significant brand safety issues. Brands risk being associated with false information, which can lead to consumer distrust and potential legal challenges. Additionally, these sites often generate low engagement and poor ad performance. 4. Hyper-Political, Controversial and Fake News Websites Websites that focus on highly political, controversial, or inflammatory content are considered unsuitable for most brands. These sites may be safe in terms of avoiding explicit content, but the association with polarizing topics can damage a brand’s image, thus making them a brand-safety issue. Examples: Hyper-Partisan News Sites: These sites focus on extreme political views and are often associated with divisive or misleading content. Advertising on such sites can lead to backlash from consumers who do not share the site’s views. Controversial Content Sites: Websites that focus on scandalous or shocking content, even if not explicitly political, can be equally damaging for brands. These sites often use sensational headlines to attract clicks, but the content is usually of low quality and not aligned with most brand values. Misinformation Sites: Websites that deliberately spread false information, often for political or financial gain, also fall into this category. These sites can severely damage a brand’s reputation if ads appear alongside misleading or harmful content. Impact: Advertising on hyper-political or controversial websites poses significant brand safety risks. Consumers may associate the brand with the extreme views or content found on these sites, leading to a potential loss of trust and customer loyalty. Additionally, such placements often result in ineffective ad spend, as the content may not resonate with the brand’s target audience. Conclusion Low-quality website placements are a persistent challenge in digital advertising. From MFA websites designed solely for ad revenue to AI-generated junk sites and hyper-political content, these placements can drain advertising budgets, harm brand reputation, and reduce the effectiveness of campaigns. As the digital landscape evolves, it becomes increasingly important for advertisers to scrutinize their placement strategies, leveraging tools like AI-driven analysis and allowlists to ensure that ads appear in suitable, high-quality environments. By understanding and avoiding these low-quality placements, brands can protect their integrity, optimize their ad spend, and achieve better overall results.

Understanding and Improving Ad Relevance

July 25, 2024

Ad relevance refers to how closely an advertisement matches the interests, needs, and context of the audience viewing it. When ads are relevant, they are more likely to engage viewers, drive clicks, and ultimately convert into sales or other desired actions.