New research by DoubleVerify indicates UK is underperforming in Brand Suitability

DoubleVerify ("DV"), the leading software platform for digital media measurement, data, and analytics, has revealed findings from its eighth annual DV Global Insights: 2024 Trends Report.

The report reveals that the UK is lagging behind in terms of brand safety, with brand safety and suitability violations surpassing the global benchmark. UK violations stand at 7.6% of all ads served in 2023, over 30% higher than the global benchmark of 5.8%. EMEA overall was the poorest performing region for brand safety and suitability with a benchmark of 9.0%, over 70% higher than that of North America.

The DV Global Insights: 2024 Trends Report provides a comprehensive overview of worldwide data, quality and performance trends, along with, for the first time, regional trend reports. The EMEA report found that 42% of EMEA media buyers saw an increase in low-quality content and made-for-advertising (MFA) sites as a disruptive threat to the digital ecosystem. However, the report also indicates progress in EMEA in regard to brand suitability, with violations decreasing by 15% and UK violations dropping by 23%. 

The growing accessibility of Generative AI is a cause of concern, with over half of global respondents to the report believing that Generative AI significantly negatively impacts media quality. Despite the challenges, the report found that AI is also regarded as a solution, with 55% of media buyers responding that AI-driven campaign optimisation positively impacts media quality. Globally, a major cause in the overall decline in brand safety violations is the 41% year-over-year increase in the utilisation of AI-led, custom pre-bid brand suitability protections. This allows advertisers to apply safety and suitability controls before a bid is placed and the ad is rendered or blocked. 

Pre-bid controls reduce waste for advertisers by allowing bids to be placed on suitable impressions. For publishers, they allow monetisation of impressions that don’t align with one brand’s suitability criteria but could be a fit for another. 

“As we approach a potentially challenging news cycle perpetuated by the recent election, which will also see the increasing influence of AI-generated content, it’s crucial for UK advertisers to invest in brand suitability solutions”, said Nick Reid, SVP and Managing Director EMEA at DoubleVerify. “UK and EMEA media buyers should investigate and emulate the example of North America, which has increased adoption of AI-led, pre-bid protections, and brought its market violation rate down to 5.2%.”

For the full DV Global Insights report series, visit https://doubleverify.com/global-insights-2024-trends-report.