Brand Safety Use Case

Brand Safety in Digital Advertising

Protect your brand reputation with comprehensive URL categorization. Ensure every ad placement aligns with your brand values across 50M+ classified domains.

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Why Brand Safety Matters in Digital Advertising

In programmatic advertising, brands can inadvertently appear alongside controversial, harmful, or inappropriate content. A single misplaced ad can generate negative publicity, damage brand equity, and erode consumer trust built over years of careful marketing.

High-profile brand safety incidents have cost companies millions in brand damage and led to advertising boycotts of major platforms. Advertisers now demand granular control over where their ads appear, making brand safety a critical component of any digital advertising strategy.

URL categorization provides the intelligence layer that powers brand safety solutions. By classifying domains into detailed content categories, advertisers can create precise inclusion and exclusion lists that protect their brand while maintaining advertising reach and effectiveness.

Implementing Brand Safety with URL Categorization

From category data to protected ad placements

Brand safety implementation begins with defining which content categories align with brand values. A family-friendly brand might exclude adult content, gambling, and violence, while a luxury brand might additionally exclude discount shopping or lower-tier content.

Our database provides multi-tier categorization that enables both broad exclusions and nuanced policies. The GARM (Global Alliance for Responsible Media) framework categories are supported, allowing advertisers to implement industry-standard brand safety measures.

Pre-bid integration ensures brand safety decisions happen before ad placements are purchased. When a bid request arrives, the domain is checked against the brand's category policies, and bids are only submitted for suitable inventory.

GARM Framework Support

Industry-standard brand safety categories

Pre-Bid Integration

Block unsafe placements before bidding

50M+ Domain Coverage

Comprehensive protection across the web

Brand Risk Categories

Protect your brand from association with harmful content

Adult & Explicit Content

Comprehensive classification of adult content, pornography, and explicit material. Prevent brand association with age-restricted content that could damage family-friendly brand positioning.

Violence & Gore

Identification of sites featuring violent content, graphic imagery, and disturbing material. Essential exclusion for brands seeking to maintain positive, uplifting associations.

Illegal & Harmful Activities

Detection of content promoting illegal activities, drug use, weapons, and other harmful behaviors. Critical for regulatory compliance and brand protection.

Hate Speech & Extremism

Classification of hate content, extremist material, and discriminatory sites. Protect your brand from association with divisive or offensive content.

Controversial News

Identification of hard news topics like terrorism, disasters, and political controversy. Enable nuanced policies for news-adjacent content based on brand tolerance.

Misinformation & Fake News

Detection of known misinformation sources and unreliable content. Protect brand credibility by avoiding association with false or misleading information.

Integration Example

Implement brand safety checks in your ad tech stack

// Example: Brand safety pre-bid integration
class BrandSafetyFilter {
    constructor(config) {
        this.urlDb = new URLCategorization(config.apiKey);
        this.brandProfiles = config.brandProfiles;
    }

    async evaluateBidRequest(bidRequest, brandId) {
        const domain = new URL(bidRequest.site.page).hostname;
        const brandProfile = this.brandProfiles[brandId];

        // Get domain categories
        const categoryData = await this.urlDb.lookup(domain);

        // Check against brand's blocked categories
        const blockedMatch = categoryData.categories.find(
            cat => brandProfile.blockedCategories.includes(cat)
        );

        if (blockedMatch) {
            return {
                safe: false,
                reason: `Blocked category: ${blockedMatch}`,
                garmLevel: this.getGarmLevel(blockedMatch),
                action: 'NO_BID'
            };
        }

        // Check GARM risk level
        const garmRisk = this.calculateGarmRisk(categoryData.categories);
        if (garmRisk > brandProfile.maxGarmRisk) {
            return {
                safe: false,
                reason: `GARM risk level ${garmRisk} exceeds threshold`,
                garmLevel: garmRisk,
                action: 'NO_BID'
            };
        }

        // Check brand suitability (beyond safety)
        const suitabilityScore = this.calculateSuitability(
            categoryData.categories,
            brandProfile.preferredCategories
        );

        return {
            safe: true,
            garmLevel: garmRisk,
            suitabilityScore: suitabilityScore,
            action: 'BID',
            bidModifier: this.getBidModifier(suitabilityScore)
        };
    }

    calculateGarmRisk(categories) {
        const garmMapping = {
            'adult': 'high',
            'violence': 'high',
            'hate-speech': 'high',
            'terrorism': 'high',
            'drugs': 'high',
            'gambling': 'medium',
            'alcohol': 'medium',
            'controversial-news': 'medium',
            'politics': 'low'
        };

        let maxRisk = 'none';
        for (const cat of categories) {
            if (garmMapping[cat] === 'high') return 'high';
            if (garmMapping[cat] === 'medium') maxRisk = 'medium';
            if (garmMapping[cat] === 'low' && maxRisk === 'none') maxRisk = 'low';
        }
        return maxRisk;
    }
}

// Example brand profile configuration
const familyBrandProfile = {
    blockedCategories: [
        'adult', 'violence', 'gambling', 'alcohol',
        'drugs', 'hate-speech', 'weapons'
    ],
    preferredCategories: ['family', 'education', 'entertainment', 'lifestyle'],
    maxGarmRisk: 'low'
};

Industry Applications

How different sectors implement brand safety

Brand Advertisers

Major brands use URL categorization to implement comprehensive brand safety policies across all digital channels. From CPG to automotive, every industry benefits from controlled ad placement.

Media Agencies

Agencies leverage brand safety tools to protect client brands while meeting campaign performance goals. Category-level controls enable efficient policy management across client portfolios.

DSP Platforms

Demand-side platforms integrate URL categorization to offer brand safety as a core feature. Pre-bid blocking ensures brand protection without sacrificing auction efficiency.

Verification Services

Ad verification vendors use category data for pre-campaign brand safety assessment and post-campaign reporting. URL categorization forms the foundation of placement analysis.

SSP Platforms

Supply-side platforms use categorization to accurately label inventory, helping publishers demonstrate brand-safe environments and attract premium advertisers.

Brand Safety Vendors

Specialized brand safety companies build on URL categorization data to deliver comprehensive protection solutions including monitoring, blocking, and reporting.

Beyond Safety: Brand Suitability

Brand safety focuses on avoiding harmful content, but brand suitability goes further by ensuring ads appear in contexts that enhance brand perception. A luxury watch brand might be "safe" on a discount shopping site but not "suitable" for its premium positioning.

Our comprehensive category taxonomy enables nuanced suitability decisions. Beyond blocking negative categories, advertisers can prioritize placement in categories that align with brand values and target audience interests.

The combination of safety filtering and suitability optimization maximizes brand impact while minimizing risk, creating advertising environments where brands can thrive.

Reputation Protection

Prevent brand damage from inappropriate ad placements. A single misplaced ad can generate negative publicity that takes years to repair.

Improved Performance

Brand-suitable contexts drive better engagement. Ads in aligned environments see higher click-through rates and improved conversion metrics.

Regulatory Compliance

Meet advertising standards and regulations. Industry self-regulation and legal requirements increasingly mandate brand safety measures.

Protect Your Brand Today

Access comprehensive URL categorization for brand safety implementation. 50M+ classified domains with GARM-aligned categories.

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