Fake news is a real problem for both advertisers and publishers as it is creating an unproductive environment for advertisers and an unwelcoming one for publishers.
On the one hand, for example, publishers are struggling to place their information within the Facebook News Feed as the social media network has made algorithm updates to limit the reach of publishers who share links frequently, specifically links to individual articles (Facebook, 2017). On the other hand, fake news is also a problem for advertisers wanting to avoid further wasted ad spend and being associated with the spread of misinformation from rogue publishers (the purveyors of "fake news").
BrightRoll (owned by Oath, formerly Yahoo) recently surveyed 400 programmatic decision-makers (agencies and advertisers) regarding their thoughts on fake news and its impact on advertising and found 96 percent of advertisers are concerned about fake news in programmatic advertising with 31 percent planning to reduce spend with programmatic partners whose inventory includes publisher brands associated with fake news. Forty-three percent of respondents indicated they will not change their spend, but instead will simply blacklist known publishers of fake news.
What is perhaps most encouraging for the broader industry is that BrightRoll's survey indicated 55 percent of advertisers will put more pressure on programmatic technology partners to proactively screen for fake news in the future. Twenty-seven percent of surveyed advertisers, in fact, noted they will even shift from open exchange to private buying to ensure integrity in the advertising experience and spend is not compromised. BrightRoll's survey sheds light on the issue of who is responsible for combating the fake news problem.
Expect discussion around fake news and advertising to continue as people have differing opinions on whether the networks must shield consumers from misinformation, if consumers need to be more critical and savvy as individuals or if technology partners must shoulder the burden.
85.2%
Almost 8 in 10 mobile display ads in the U.S. are purchased programmatically and that number is expected to rise to 85.2 percent by 2019.
(eMarketer, 2017)
80%
Snapchat served 80 percent of its ads programmatically in Q3 (up from zero percent one year ago), which decreased CPMs more than 60 percent year-over-year making it reportedly more difficult for the company to grow revenue during this period.
(Snap, 2017)
$26.9 Billion
A ranking of the top 30 global media owners in 2017 indicates Alphabet (Google's parent company) is number one in ad revenue in 2016 ($36.9 billion), followed by Facebook ($26.9 billion in ad revenue) and Comcast ($12.9 billion in ad revenue). Google and Facebook alone have accounted for almost two-thirds of global ad spend growth since 2012.
(Zenith, 2017)
35%
Over one-third (35 percent) of programmatically traded desktop ad impressions in the United States were fraudulent in Q1 2017.
(Pixalate, 2017)
11%
Six hundred and fifteen million devices now use ad blocking software, and 11 percent of the global Internet population is blocking ads on the Web. (PageFair, 2017) .35% The average click-through rate in AdWords across all industries is 1.91 percent for search and 0.35 percent for display.
(WordStream, 2017)