Brand safety audit for advertising

A brand safety audit for advertising is a one-time review of where and in what environment your ads appear, and how safe that is for the brand's reputation: which placements, apps, channels and videos are actually in the placement reports; whether exclusion lists (blocked placements) and blocked categories are set up (e.g. violence, shock content, fakes, 18+ content); whether there are impressions on dubious, low-quality or fraud placements (made-for-advertising sites, bots); whether the environment matches the brand's values and tone; whether verification tools and brand-safety settings in the ad systems themselves are used. The result is a report of the risks found and a prioritized plan: which placements and categories to exclude, what to tighten in the settings. Honestly about the main point: this is diagnosis and recommendations, not running or configuring campaigns for you — making changes is separate work, by us or by your team. And the key point about the subject itself: in programmatic and display advertising it is impossible to 100% guarantee an ad will never appear next to undesirable content — placements and inventory change in real time, so brand safety is about reducing risk and control, not absolute protection; "we guarantee your ad will never land badly" cannot be promised honestly. Honestly about data: the quality of the review depends on access to placement reports and ad accounts; without such access only a general assessment of the settings is possible, and without detailed reports part of the real impressions is not visible. Third-party verification tools (such as DV or IAS) also do not cover everything and give an estimate, not an absolute. It is a snapshot in time: in programmatic placements change constantly, so brand safety is ongoing hygiene, while a one-time audit sets the baseline and the rules. An important boundary: this is a brand safety audit (where and next to what the ads appear), not an audit of the creatives themselves (separate) and not an audit of campaign settings, bids and targeting overall (also separate). If you do not run programmatic or display ads (e.g. only search on your own brand queries), there is almost no placement risk and you most likely do not need the audit. Picture this: instead of "we run our ads carefully, probably" you learn that part of the budget goes to made-for-advertising sites, a banner appeared in an app with shock content, and the blocked-category list is not set up at all — with a plan of what to exclude first. The base price starts from 14,000 ₽; it depends on the number of systems and campaigns.

• You do not know exactly which placements and environments your ads run in.
• You fear the brand appearing next to shock content, fakes or 18+.
• You suspect part of the budget goes to fraud and made-for-advertising sites.
• Exclusion lists and blocked categories are not set up or not reviewed.

• Where ads appear: placements, apps, channels, videos
• Whether exclusion lists and blocked categories are set up
• Impressions on dubious, low-quality and fraud placements
• Whether the environment matches the brand's values and tone
• Use of verification tools and brand-safety settings
• A risk report and a prioritized exclusion plan
• What to tighten in the ad-system settings
• What to set up technically and what to keep in mind going forward

• A clear picture of where and next to what the ads really appear
• Visibility of risky placements, categories and fraud
• Priorities: what to exclude and tighten first
• Clarity on how to reduce the risk (but not zero it out completely)

• We clarify the ad systems, campaigns, brand values and collect access to accounts and placement reports
• We analyze placements, exclusions, categories, fraud risks and settings
• We prepare a risk report and a prioritized plan and review it with you

• Do you guarantee the ad will never appear in a bad spot?

  No, and honestly: in programmatic and display advertising that is impossible — the inventory changes in real time. Brand safety reduces the risk and gives control, but not absolute protection. We find problems and set up rules to keep the risk minimal, but it cannot be zeroed out.

• Do you need access to ad accounts and reports?

  It is desirable. With access to placement reports you can see where ads actually run and the review is more accurate. Without access only a general assessment of the settings is possible; without detailed reports part of the real impressions remains invisible. Third-party verifiers (DV/IAS) also do not cover everything.

• Will you set up and run the campaigns?

  No, that is separate work. The audit gives diagnosis and a prioritized plan: what to exclude and tighten. Making the settings and running campaigns are done separately or by your team. This is also not a creatives audit and not an audit of bids/targeting overall.