In the blog with our predictions for 2018, I wrote about brand safety and the trend that the major online platforms (Facebook and Youtube, among others) are starting to create their own content. There are several motives behind this. By offering exclusive premium content, these parties obviously hope to keep the target audience on their platform, which offers financially favorable opportunities. However, there is another important motive behind this, namely issues of brand safety.
Fire safety issue offers opportunities
Previously, advertisers had no way of knowing exactly what content your ads were being delivered to. As a result, your ad could appear around topics that you don't really want to be associated with. Without your knowledge. This has already led to several large advertisers dropping out on these platforms.
By creating their own content, Facebook and Youtube, for example, can guarantee that ads for high-quality content will be shown. As a result, brand safety is no longer an issue. However, this will undoubtedly come at a price. As an advertiser, you have to go the extra mile to be in a quality environment. Research has shown that ads in a premium environment lead to better results, so it is certainly worth considering.
Source: Channel4
Facebook Watch
In America, Facebook has already established their own content channel called Facebook Watch. Here you can see premium content produced by Facebook itself. Pre-rolls can be purchased for this content, which is not possible with the content on your timeline. Here you see posts that you are not looking for yourself, but that Facebook presents to you. Whereas with Facebook Watch, you choose to watch the content yourself and thus, Facebook reasons, are willing to watch a pre-roll first. Incidentally, mid-roll ads were added to the longer videos on users' timelines a while ago.
Tightened policy
Both Youtube and Facebook are also taking other measures in response to the criticism around fire safety. The policy is being tightened considerably, which means, for example, that not every Youtube channel is eligible to place advertisements. Creators must now have at least 1,000 subscribers and must watch 4,000 hours of video in a year to be eligible for advertising, in other words, to earn money with their channel. In this way Youtube wants to prevent advertisements for poor quality videos. Both platforms also monitor even more intensively what content is uploaded.
Still no transparency
A dissenting voice is also immediately audible. 'Small' creators feel passed over, while these are the very people who made Youtube so big. In addition, it seems that both Youtube and Facebook are still not allowing independent parties to be measured in 2018.
This means we still depend on Facebook's numbers for results on Facebook. A bit like the butcher judging his own meat. Despite undoubtedly good intentions, we just have to keep taking both parties at their word and wait for new problems.
So the solution to make sure your ads are displayed in a quality ümfeld is offered by the platforms with their own content. You will have to pay the higher price for this.