Why Your Campaigns Should Be Using a Verified Allowlist
Have you ever wondered where your ad dollars really go—or whether your brand is showing up in the right places? In today’s digital landscape, it’s a question every marketer should be asking. Before the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, brand safety was already a priority for programmatic media managers. However, the rapid changes brought about by the pandemic elevated it to the top of the list. The forced digital transformation, combined with an environment where any type of content could generate negative associations, made it clear: where your ads appear matters more than ever.
Unlike many trends that faded in the post-pandemic world, brand safety continues to grow in importance. According to WARC's Future of Programmatic 2024 report, 60% of advertisers and agencies identified brand safety as a major concern in programmatic advertising [1]. And it’s not hard to see why. The stakes have never been higher, with consumers expecting brands to align with their values and be careful about the content they support.
The programmatic media market is now more focused than ever on where its money is going. Advertisers are no longer satisfied with just asking, “Are we hitting KPIs?” Today, marketers want answers to bigger questions: How long are our ads being seen? Are we supporting reputable publishers? Are we inadvertently funding low-quality or fraudulent content? This shift from “what works” to “why it works” empowers brands to take control of their ad spend in ways that were previously overlooked.
Here’s a staggering fact: According to the ANA's 2023 Programmatic Media Supply Chain Transparency Study, only 36 cents of every dollar spent on programmatic advertising reaches working media. The rest? Lost to fees, non-viewable ads, and impressions on low-quality, made-for-advertising websites [2].
But there’s a catch. Many brands trying to prioritize safety rely on expansive keyword blocklists. On the surface, blocklists seem like a smart way to protect your brand, but they often backfire. Trusted publications that cover sensitive topics like "mental health," "LGBTQ," or "climate change" can be unfairly flagged and excluded, creating a chilling effect on journalism. Imagine running a high-quality news site, only to lose ad revenue because of a single flagged word. For Black-owned publishers, this issue is even more pronounced. According to a 2023 article by Digiday, discriminatory keyword blocklists continue to miscategorize their content, resulting in lost revenue and stifled voices in underrepresented communities [3].
This over-cautious approach does more harm than good. Minority-owned and community-focused publishers often rely on programmatic revenue to stay afloat. By blocking ads on these sites, brands unintentionally hurt the very communities they claim to support. Worse yet, they miss out on connecting with audiences who value inclusivity and authentic representation.
So, what’s the solution? Enter verified allowlists—a smarter, more proactive alternative. By curating high-quality inventory in advance, brands can ensure their ads appear alongside reputable content while reducing the risk of harmful associations. Unlike restrictive keyword blocklists that unintentionally penalize legitimate journalism, allowlists enable advertisers to place their ads on pre-vetted publishers known for their integrity, human traffic, and genuine audience engagement.
This approach isn't just about avoiding risks—it’s about ensuring ads appear in environments that command real attention. Research from Lumen and The Ozone Project has demonstrated that advertising placed alongside premium publisher content receives significantly more engagement. Ads on high-quality news sites garner 51% more attention than those on standard web inventory, with video ads seeing an even greater boost—111% more attention than on other sites and 140% more than on social media [4]. When brands align with credible, human-made content, they don’t just safeguard their reputation—they benefit from higher trust, increased dwell time, and more meaningful interactions. Supporting these environments isn’t just a smart media strategy—it’s an investment in a sustainable media ecosystem that prioritizes accuracy, depth, and fact-based reporting. If we want to maintain a healthy digital society, we must ensure that responsible publishers—those providing reliable news and informed perspectives—continue to thrive.
And there’s another reason to rethink outdated approaches: ad fraud. The global cost of digital advertising fraud is projected to grow from $88 billion in 2023 to a jaw-dropping $172 billion by 2028, according to Statista [5]. Without targeted solutions like inventory curation, your ad budget could end up funding fraudulent impressions, bot traffic, and non-viewable placements. By using verified allowlists, advertisers can filter out waste, ensure their media spend reaches real audiences, and contribute to a cleaner, more transparent digital advertising ecosystem.
If we’ve learned anything, it’s that brand safety isn’t just about avoiding risks—it’s about managing them intelligently. By moving away from outdated strategies like keyword blocklists and embracing a curated, high-quality inventory approach, advertisers can strike a balance between safety, inclusivity, and effectiveness. It’s time to rethink how we approach media placement, not just for the health of our campaigns, but for the health of the entire advertising ecosystem. After all, can you really afford not to?
Sources:
1. Future of Programmatic 2024, WARC, 2024 -
https://page.warc.com/the-future-of-programmatic-2024.html
2. Programmatic Media Supply Chain Transparency Study, ANA, 2023 -
https://www.ana.net/miccontent/show/id/rr-2023-programmatic-transparency
3. "Black-owned publishers say they still suffer from discriminatory keyword blocklists," Digiday, 2023 -
4. The Ozone Project & Lumen Research: Impact of High-Quality Publisher Content on Attention, The Ozone Project, 2021 -
"5. Ad Fraud Statistics 2023," Statista, 2023 -
https://www.statista.com/statistics/677466/digital-ad-fraud-cost/
