Brand safety and politicization:New contradictions and challenges in the advertising industry

In recent years, "brand safety" has become an important topic in the advertising industry. At first, the original intention of this concept was to avoid brand advertising appearing in inappropriate content such as violence, pornography, or false information. However, over time, the definition of brand safety has gradually changed and expanded to more complex political and ideological fields, especially with the advent of the Trump era, this issue has become increasingly acute and even sparked intense political debates.

Recently, conservative media company "Daily Connection" is celebrating the decline of "brand safety" against the backdrop of a significant increase in advertising revenue on its website, and taking advantage of this opportunity to benefit from the rebound of advertisers. Last year, Daily Connection was rejected by multiple advertisers due to the "political insecurity" of its content, but with the return of President Trump, the situation began to change. Nowadays, some advertisers have become more tolerant and even seek to collaborate with conservative media.

The historical evolution of brand safety: from protection to politicization

The initial goal of brand safety is to prevent brand advertisements from appearing next to unpleasant or harmful content. The popularity of the Internet enables advertisers to accurately target audiences, but also makes them more worried about advertising appearing around some negative content, which will affect brand image. Therefore, advertisers have begun to rely on brand safety technology, using automated tools, keyword blocking lists, and other means to filter out content that is considered "unsafe". However, as the scope of this screening continues to expand, more and more political and ideological issues are being included in this framework.

This change was particularly evident during President Trump's tenure. The policy inclination of the Trump administration has strengthened the power of right-wing conservatives and led some advertisers to prioritize the platform's political stance and ideology when choosing advertising placements. In the past, brand safety standards mainly focused on the violence or vulgarity of content, but nowadays, many brands do not want their advertisements to appear next to media that does not align with certain political views, which has led to the suppression of advertising revenue for conservative media, especially in the cooperation of some mainstream advertising companies and platforms, where right-wing voices are marginalized.

Conservative counterattack: Brand safety has become a political weapon

The strong reaction of conservatives marks that brand safety issues are no longer just technical issues in the advertising industry, but have become a political struggle involving freedom of speech and market freedom. In 2024, Jim Jordan, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, released a report accusing advertisers of jointly withholding advertising revenue from conservative media, arguing that advertisers were actually implementing a political review under the guise of brand safety.

This situation further exacerbates the conflict between advertisers and media, especially when it comes to conservative platforms such as X and Rumble, and the trend towards politicizing brand safety becomes more apparent. In response to this situation, conservative media has taken legal action and sued some advertisers and brands, accusing them of implementing political boycotts through brand safety standards. These lawsuits not only challenge the brand safety practices of the advertising industry, but also turn the concept of "brand safety", which originally had no political color, into a profound political issue.

Future Brand Safety: The Game between Market Freedom and Politicization

At the same time, the politicization of brand safety issues may lead to further differentiation in the advertising market. In the future, whether advertisers can find a balance between politics and the market will directly affect the ecological pattern of the media and the healthy development of the advertising industry.

Overall, politicizing brand safety is not a simple market strategy, it involves a game of three forces: advertisers, media platforms, and government regulation. For advertisers, how to avoid excessive political intervention while ensuring brand image will be a key challenge they face in the future.