New “misinformation solution” protects advertisers, identifying reputable news sources on YouTube while also isolating high risk stories and sources

Pixability, a leader in AI-driven contextual targeting, brand suitability and performance on YouTube and CTV, announced the launch of a brand safety solution for news content with Ad Fontes, a leader in rating news sources for bias and reliability. The new offering will be the only misinformation solution in the marketplace that tackles the two-part problem of protecting advertisers on news channels on YouTube–(1) identifying sources of news that are reputable, trustworthy and not overly biased and (2) screening those reputable news channels for high risk, sensitive news stories. Pixability will combine its brand safety solution, which includes tech and human monitoring, with Ad Fontes’ in depth news ratings system to ensure marketers are running their ads in a trusted news environment.

“At a time when false and misleading information is rampant across all platforms, it’s important we identify and provide support for sources of news that are trustworthy and not expressing extreme bias,” said Vanessa Otero, founder and CEO of Ad Fontes. “As the largest video platform in the world, YouTube has a vast ocean of content of varying reliability, which presents both huge opportunities and challenges. We believe our solution, combined with Pixability’s brand suitability technology, will together provide a much-needed way to target high-quality journalism and information on YouTube while in turn steering clear of low-reliability content.”

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The new solution will give advertisers the ability to select channels on YouTube that are not overly biased and that follow proper and recognized journalistic practices of fact-checking. It also incorporates Pixability’s brand suitability technology and real-time monitoring of sensitive news to isolate stories, even on reputable sources, that may not be appropriate for certain advertisers.

“We are thrilled to be partnering with Ad Fontes to bring this solution to the market at a time when supporting reputable news sources matters more than ever,” commented David George, CEO of Pixability. “We’ve seen a pattern of brands and agencies avoiding news content altogether because of a lack of effective brand suitability solutions in the market tailored for news sites and are proud to be solving for this problem on YouTube specifically.”

Industry leaders are also acknowledging the importance of the new solution for YouTube. AJ Brown, COO of the Brand Safety Institute said the following:
“Brands play a critical role in safeguarding the future of reliable, quality journalism. The decision to invest in news calls for nuanced buying options that go beyond traditional brand suitability risk categorization, which too often bluntly demonetizes high-quality, high-impact journalism. Bringing together Pixability’s Brand Safety solutions and Ad Fontes Media’s reliability and bias scoring allows marketers to support quality journalism with targeted ad buys on YouTube that align with their brand’s values.”

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Pixability’s insights team recently released data that showed that, on average, 40% of YouTube advertisers ask to avoid news content on YouTube. This not only leads to a lack of funding for reputable news sources but also hurts advertisers as they may miss engagement opportunities with their audiences in key areas of interest.

Pixability’s insights team also released the following data that demonstrates the value of news content for advertisers:

• Advertisers from food & beverage, automotive, entertainment, travel and many other industries see that news content drives anywhere from 24%-44% better engagement than the average content category on YouTube
• The desirable 18-24 year old demographic is most likely to engage with advertising on news content on YouTube
• Reputable news channels on YouTube have a 99% favorability rating from audiences