What’s happening
- Ad content adjacency emerges as the top media challenge in IAS’s UK Industry Pulse Report 2026, cited by 78% of brand and agency digital media experts in a survey.
- Specific concerns include AI-generated content (37%), deepfakes (27%) and influencer/creator content (20%).
- Two-thirds (68%) highlighted the need to avoid appearing alongside such content that contains inaccurate information, mis/disinformation, or hallucinations.
- Ad fraud and MFA sites (50%) and measurement abilities (40%) also loomed large.
- Digital media experts at publishers and platforms have very different concerns, including carbon emissions from programmatic advertising (cited by 40%) and poor viewability levels (35%).
Why media quality matters
While marketers feel generally positive about the opportunities to advertise alongside AI-generated content, they are conscious of potential brand safety and reputational risks. “Adopting a clear suitability framework and prioritising media transparency is key to confidently capitalise on AI-driven opportunities,” the report advises.
A key factor will be distinguishing between high- and low-quality environments as AI production grows. Brands should steer clear of all MFA and ad clutter sites, with AI classification tools and avoidance strategies forming an essential part of this process.
Source. warc.com; Sourced from IAS