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Google has been accused of quietly placing search ads on non-Google websites, posing a potential risk to brand safety.
Google denies the accusation, saying Adalytics, publisher of the report, has a track record of publishing inaccurate reports that misrepresent Google’s products and make exaggerated claims, according to Dan Taylor, Vice President, Global Ads at Google.
Why we care. Compromising ad placement can harm brand reputation and reduce ad effectiveness. Advertisers need accurate and transparent data on ad placement. If true, Google has put advertiser brand reputation at risk and potentially wasted ad spend.
Scores of media buyers, under the assumption that their campaigns were running on Google.com, have reportedly discovered that their ads are appearing on compromising websites within the Google Search Partner (GSP) network instead, according to the study.
The GSP network websites include:
Brand safety concerns. The Adalytics study referenced an unnamed Fortune 500 company, which was reportedly “surprised” to lean that its ads were being served on “many” non-Google websites. Such websites included Breitbart.com – a site the company had specifically added to its account-level domain exclusion list (i.e. blocklist) several years beforehand. An Adalytics researcher commented:
Reporting issues. The Fortune 500 brand cited in the Adalytics study was unable to export a report detailing the specific websites where its search ads appeared within the GSP network. Consequently, the business couldn’t measure its exposure or confirm how often its ads were placed on sites like Breitbart.com, pornographic websites, Iranian websites, or those listed on the Treasury OFAC SDN list.
Google denies the accusations. Taylor responded to the research on X:
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How GSP network ads work. When advertisers run search ads on Google, they are automatically included in an additional ad display network that Google monetizes. This network consists of third-party websites, including those with Google’s custom search widget. If these sites haven’t opted out of displaying search ads, then ads running on the GSP network can appear on various websites across the internet.
What is Adalytics? Adalytics is a crowd-sourced advertising performance optimization platform that was set up to review and improve the digital advertising landscape.
Deep dive. You can learn more about Adalytics’ investigation by reading its report ‘Does a lack of transparency create brand safety concerns for search advertisers?‘
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