Hundreds of major brands are unknowingly wasting their advertising dollars on Made for Advertising (MFA) websites, according to a recent study by Analytics. These MFA websites are primarily created for profit through advertising and often provide a poor user experience, damaging the reputation of digital advertising as a whole. The study found that ads were being placed on these sites through both programmatic and non-programmatic channels.
Many companies are under the misconception that their ad dollars are protected from being spent on MFA sites. Adalytics, a crowd-sourced advertising performance optimization platform, conducted an investigation into the efficiency of ad spend to debunk this belief. They worked with a Fortune 500 company and found that despite the company’s belief that they had minimal exposure to MFA inventory, they had actually spent over $10 million on MFA websites. This prompted Adalytics to further investigate the extent of this phenomenon and how Fortune 500 brands’ ads end up on MFA sites.
The Adalytics study reviewed the campaigns of hundreds of major brands, including Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Ford, NBC Universal, US Army, The Wall Street Journal, Meta, and many others. The results revealed that hundreds of brands, including US government agencies and departments, still have their ads observed on MFA websites. Ad exchanges, supply side platforms (SSPs), and demand side platforms (DSPs) were also found to be serving ads on MFA sites.
This widespread misconception among advertisers that their ad dollars are not being wasted on MFA sites contradicts the findings of the Adalytics study. Advertisers are strongly recommended to validate the functionality of MFA-blocking offerings to ensure they align with advertised capabilities and comply with policies. The Association of National Advertisers emphasizes the importance of maintaining vigilance and due diligence in order to leverage programmatic advertising as a potent tool for driving results.
In conclusion, brands need to be aware that their ads may be appearing on MFA websites without their knowledge, wasting their ad dollars and potentially damaging their reputation. Advertisers should take steps to validate MFA-blocking offerings and ensure they are not inadvertently supporting these sites. The Adalytics study serves as a reminder to maintain vigilance and due diligence in the digital advertising landscape.
