Ahead of the US midterm elections this fall, the spread of misinformation and fake news online continues to be a pervasive problem, with little sign of slowing down. Countless instances of fake news have already flared up around political candidates, election integrity, and key voter topics — but the problems associated with misinformation are not just limited to election timeframes and political narratives.

Misinformation, disinformation, or fake news surfaces in all corners of the internet and around a variety of important topics including climate change, Covid-19, and the war in Ukraine — and has fanned the flames of countless conspiracy theories. Across some of the world’s largest platforms, where the problem has really taken hold, the variety of mis- and disinformation has only become more nuanced and difficult to identify and prevent, and advertisers have been paying close attention.

It’s no secret the walled garden giants like TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube are where today’s consumers and voters are spending a huge majority of their time and attention, and where brands and political advertisers are continuing to invest their media budgets:

• For the 2022 midterms this fall, political ad spend on both digital and CTV/OTT platforms are each expected to reach $1.2 billion according to Kantar, up from years past and growing fast compared to traditional channels.
• Overall, this year’s election cycle has already surpassed over $6.4 billion in total spend — more than both the 2018 and 2020 election seasons — and is set to hit a record $9 billion by election day, making this cycle one of the most expensive ever recorded.

The growing importance of walled garden platforms for their role in elections and in sharing important news content and information cannot be overstated.

Brand Reputation & Digital Responsibility

While social platforms continue to be massively popular for entertainment and educational value, it is the same UGC environments backed by powerful algorithms that are also being leveraged in the creation and spread of misinformation. And there is growing awareness and scrutiny of the problem from the media, government, and discerning consumers. According to IPG Mediabrands and Pew Research Center,

“Two-thirds of US news consumers believe social media has a negative effect on how information and news are shared, with one-third of that group citing the spread of misinformation as the major cause of that negative opinion.”

For advertisers, the risks to brand reputation when ads are found running alongside ‘fake news’ or illegitimate content can be significant, and the scale of the problem is already massive:

• A 2021 report revealed that advertisers have been shown to have spent up to $2.6 billion in ad dollars on sites sharing misinformation.

Not only is it a bad user experience that results in wasted impressions and poor campaign performance, but today’s consumers and voters view a brand or political campaign’s alignment with content as an endorsement. Unwanted alignment with even sensitive topics, let alone fake news or conspiracy theories, can be detrimental to consumer relationship and trust. IPG Mediabrands highlighted research showing that, in the UK,

“85% of consumers told researchers in a study by the Trustworthy Accountability Group and Brand Safety Institute they would reduce or stop buying brands that advertised near COVID-19 misinformation.”

Taking it one step further — avoiding ad placement near misinformation and fake news is important not just for the bottom line and consumer trust, but because it goes against brand and industry values around digital responsibility. In today’s advertising landscape, however, it can be difficult to keep track of every ad placement. Existing strategies to exclude all news and politics content end up over-blocking quality and reputable journalism sources, and is not a long term solution. As a result, there is a sense of urgency and commitment across the industry to adequately address and prevent funding and monetizing misinformation.

Tackling the Problem

Many social platforms have proactively made commitments and invested in efforts to combat the proliferation of fake news through dedicated in-house teams for content moderation and fact-checking, and developed tools like positive recommendations and redirects to catch, avert, and defund dis- and misinformation before it spreads.

In June at the annual Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM), rolled out the latest, 12th content category of ‘misinformation’ as part of their industry standard framework for Brand Safety and Suitability in an effort to codify guidelines that advertisers can reference and apply to their brand safety strategies through risk level preferences across low, medium, and high. This latest category expands their original framework established in 2019 with 11 content categories across things like adult content, terrorism, drugs, and more, which has served as an essential common framework for the industry.

Technology solutions are also needed to meet the scale and complexity of the challenge, and there have been a number of acquisitions around the tech and media sector that suggest serious investments in platform safety. In July of this year, Zefr — the leading global technology provider for targeting and measurement across the walled garden platforms — acquired AdVerifai, a leading AI misinformation detection company, to further protect brands and build towards a more responsible future on social platforms.

Zefr + AdVerifai

Zefr’s acquisition of AdVerifai integrates seamlessly into Zefr’s existing machine-learning based technology, Cognition AI — a patented approach that identifies and categorizes dynamic content including video for more precise and transparent pre-bid targeting and post-bid measurement. Zefr’s Cognition AI goes beyond traditional, semantic based brand safety technology that falls short in its ability to accurately assess content and context. The addition of AdVerifai offers an AI-driven approach to combating misinformation that uses global fact-checking organizations to provide training data for dynamic misinformation avoidance.

Looking Ahead to the Midterms — and to 2024

With the 2022 midterms just around the corner, and the 2024 presidential election looming on the horizon, top voter issue areas such as inflation, reproductive rights, immigration, and the economy will continue to be trending news topics that voters and audiences care about — and misinformation around this content will continue to pose challenges to advertisers.

Zefr has taken the lead in helping to create a more responsible digital future, and now offers the most advanced control and brand protection to avoid and demonetize misinformation, without over-blocking quality news content.

Learn more about Zefr’s brand suitability targeting and measurement solutions, powered by Cognition AI technology, including AdVerifai below.

Resources:

• More on Zefr’s acquisition of Adverifai and sign up for a first look at Zefr’s new AI detection technology via Adverifai
• Download Zefr’s Political Advertising POV — Contextual Trend Report for Advertisers to Safely & Suitability Align with News Content on YouTube