Ads next to 'brand unsafe' content deliver stronger results, research finds

Ads placed next to “brand unsafe” content deliver better results for brands, research from Bountiful Cow has found. Brand lift of 40% on 'unsafe' content versus 18% on 'safe' content

The research was led by Bountiful Cow’s head of digital, Charlotte Powers, in partnership with Ozone.

Ads placed against “unsafe” and “safe” content were measured against each other in a live campaign setting.

The results demonstrated that there was a brand uplift of 40% when ads were placed against “unsafe” content, compared with an 18% uplift when ads were placed against “safe” content. "Brand unsafe" content achieved an Attention Index of 126, outperforming the score of 120 for content that adhered to brand safety filters.

Powers said: “Brand safety tech, in its current form, is blocking quality mainstream news content—from politics to football—based on blunt keywords. Our study shows this fear is misplaced. Removing overzealous filters not only improves visibility, but ads benefited from the trusted context, driving stronger engagement and brand perception.”

Run across Ozone’s publisher network, the agency tested the premise with clients Hilltop Honey, Numan and The Body Coach.

The research is part of Bountiful Cow’s “Relative Advantage” framework, which focuses on buying underused media for challenger brands. 

Jo Allan, chief executive of Newsworks, said that she hoped the “results act as a catalyst for action-orientated change across the ad industry”.