COVID-19 scam ads decline, but AI systems risk catching legitimate vaccine messages in their traps

Ads promoting fraudulent sanitizers, and other unsound products related to the coronavirus pandemic, have clogged up the digital ad supply chain and made it even more difficult to distinguish ads that could carry important public health information to combat vaccine skepticism. "A great way to get people to your scam sites is cheap programmatic advertising, which was truly in abundance during the first half of 2020 and still remains high," said Cory Schnurr, head of marketplace innovation at The Media Trust. Read more below.

• Around 31% of all coronavirus-related ads assessed by The Media Trust in February 2021 were labeled as "coronavirus suspicious."
• Following last year’s relatively agreeable deal-making cycle, this year’s upfront talks are likely to be more contentious.
• Figuring out what a return to the office looks like is a giant undertaking. And at many businesses, it's requiring a bunch of different skills and mindsets to plan it.
• Marketers are again in limbo as gaining people’s consent to be tracked via pop-up rears its head around Apple’s latest privacy push — just as it did for the General Data Protection Regulation three years ago.
• For Digiday+ members, proponents of attention metrics in media planning say it will reduce waste in buying, especially for CPG brands.
• The BBC News vertical has significantly reduced its carbon footprint by relying more on local freelance reporters.
• Also for Digiday+ members, companies should focus on hiring practices, support services to meet their DE&I commitments and improve their workplaces.

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