NewsGuard in cooperation with IPG Mediabrands UK help brands keep their ads off of COVID-19 misinformation websites while funding credible journalism
London, April 10, 2020 – As misinformation about COVID-19 spreads across the globe advertisers, brands and traders are wrestling with how and where to place programmatic ads that reach engaged audiences while maintaining brand safety: Brands that avoid placing programmatic ads on COVID-19 content altogether may miss out on pages consumers are highly engaged with while harming the news industry when it is needed most. Brands continuing with COVID-19 placements risk harming their brand by sending ad dollars to dangerous misinformation sources offering false and harmful cures for the virus.
In response, NewsGuard in cooperation with IPG Mediabrands UK have created a solution to help brands keep their advertisements off of misinformation while continuing with ad placements on trusted news sites. IPG Mediabrands’ UK clients can choose to utilize BrandGuard, a database of NewsGuard’s ratings, which includes “Green” and “Red” ratings for each website, a credibility score, details about each site’s performance on NewsGuard’s nine journalistic criteria, and metadata relevant to advertisers. As a result, advertisers can support trustworthy news websites with programmatic advertising, while keeping their ads off websites that publish COVID-19 hoaxes and other misinformation.
“NewsGuard helps our clients avoid advertising on websites publishing dangerous misinformation, while allowing us to continue to support trusted news media that are keeping the public informed during these unprecedented times. News is more important than ever right now and we want to ensure our clients are on factual news outlets, helping fund the credible content that the public need,” said Harrison Boys, Media Standards Director, EMEA at MAGNA, IPG Mediabrands’ investment and market intelligence unit.
