Google is actively looking into improving brand safety controls for Performance Max (PMax) following a strong report from Adalytics.
The investigation, which was published last month, accused the search engine of serving ads on inappropriate non-Google websites through the Search Partner Network (SPN). Google denied the allegations, but began giving advertisers the option to opt out of the SNP a week later.
However, with this temporary measure set to end on 1 March 2024, Google Ads Liaison Officer Ginny Marvin has now confirmed that new security controls are being considered.
Why we care With Google removing the ability to disable SPN, advertisers will want to be sure that their ads don’t appear alongside inappropriate content that is likely to reach their target audience and potentially damage their brand reputation.
What Google says. When Marvin was asked about PMax brand safety during a PPC Chat Q&A, he said:
“As you’ve probably seen, there is a temporary option to request opt-out of the search partner network at the account level until March 1st. I don’t have any updates to share at this time, but this is temporary , as teams evaluate additional controls to put in place.” “FYI, looking at data from October, over 90% of SPN’s impressions came from the top 100 sites and apps, including YouTube.”
What did Adalytics say? According to Adalytics, many ad buyers, who expected their campaigns to run on Google.com, found their ads appearing on compromised websites within the SPN. GSP Network websites include:
Sites that contain pirated content. Hardcore porn sites. Websites of companies located in countries such as Iran and Russia that may be under US government sanctions.
However, Dan Taylor, vice president of Global Ads at Google, denied the allegations, saying Adalytics has a history of publishing inaccurate reports that misrepresented Google products and made exaggerated claims.
Brand safety controls in place. As Google looks to add more brand safety controls, here you go tools at your disposal to manage the types of content your PMax ads can show in search, shopping, display and video inventory:
Suitability checks for searches and purchases
New campaign-level PMax brand exclusions prevent your ads from serving for specific brand queries in Search and Shopping. Account-level negative keywords prevent your ads from showing for those queries in Search and Shopping.
Screen and video suitability controls
Content tags allow you to reduce the maturity level of YouTube and GDN content where your ads can be shown or alongside. This is where you’ll find the one-click “family-friendly content” option, for example. The type of inventory (extended, standard, limited) allows you to quickly choose the type of content that is best for your brand on YouTube and GDN. Content type exclusions prevent ads from showing in certain areas of video content, such as live streaming or embedded YouTube video. Sensitive content categories allow you to exclude certain types of content from GDN, such as tragedies and conflicts. Exclude up to 1,000 content keywords to prevent ads from showing on YouTube and GDN content related to those exact words. Placement exclusions prevent your ads from showing on specific YouTube and GDN content. PMax respects account-level and MCC location exclusions. PMax’s placement reports show the sites and apps where your ads have appeared and were created specifically for the Google Display Network’s brand safety tools. And new search term stats updates include more categories, API integration, custom date ranges, and download.
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deep dive Read our brand safety tips for YouTube and Google advertisers to learn more about how to protect your brand.
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