Social Media Brand Safety Challenges

Our blog today focuses on the specific challenges that advertisers are facing within the walls of YouTube.

Brand safety on YouTube has long been a concern for advertisers, as the platform’s algorithm-driven recommendations can lead to placements alongside controversial or inappropriate content. This can damage brands by associating them with content that is against their values or reputation.

One major issue with brand safety on YouTube is the platform’s reliance on algorithms to recommend and serve up content. While these algorithms can effectively drive engagement and keep users on the platform, they also tend to amplify controversial or extremist views. This can lead to brands’ ads being placed alongside videos that promote hate speech, misinformation, or other harmful content.

Another issue is the sheer volume of content on YouTube. With billions of videos uploaded daily, it can be difficult for the platform to effectively police all of the content and ensure that it meets the standards of advertisers. This can lead to brands’ ads being placed alongside content they would not have wanted to be associated with.

Furthermore, YouTube’s community guidelines do not always align with the standards of advertisers. For example, while YouTube prohibits certain types of content, such as hate speech and harassment, it may still allow other controversial content that could be considered inappropriate for brands. This can create a gray area where brands’ ads may be placed alongside content they would not have wanted to be associated with.

Additionally, YouTube’s reliance on user-generated content makes it difficult to determine the source of the content, making it harder to hold creators accountable for inappropriate content. This can lead to a lack of accountability on the platform, as creators may feel they can post controversial or inappropriate content without consequences.

In conclusion, brand safety on YouTube needs to be improved due to the platform’s reliance on algorithms, the sheer volume of content, and the lack of alignment between YouTube’s community guidelines and the standards of advertisers. This can lead to brands’ ads being placed alongside inappropriate or controversial content, damaging their reputation. 

Advertisers should know all the tools available to them to fight back against non-brand-safe content and advertise confidently on platforms like YouTube – where the data shows that when done right in a brand safe & suitable way can deliver unmatched results.

Reach out to GP today to start a discussion around this topic and learn how advertisers are partnering with us to solve the problem and spend confidently on the world’s largest video platform.