• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, July 5, 2024

Channel Factory and Ad Fontes Media created a partnership to ensure advertisers have greater access to brand-safe and suitable political and news content that in the past has been blocked by exclusionary keyword lists.

Phil Cowdell, global chief strategy officer at Channel Factory, told Media Daily News that “this partnership brings 250 news or news-like channels into the social inventory pool and are now available to be monetized."

Cowdell said Channel Factory has reviewed 700 news or news-like channels on YouTube, with 500 are in their index with Safety and Suitability scoring, of which 250 are available in the biddable marketplace.

Vanessa Otero, founder and CEO of Ad Fontes Media, believes as the 2024 U.S. presidential election nears, it becomes more important to get minimally biased and highly reliable news so voters can make informed choices when they go to the polls

Advertisers have debated the complexities of an online media that has been saturated with misinformation and provocative content for more than a decade. To reduce potential conflicts with brand safety standards, many have resorted to excluding news content from their media plans, cutting off revenue to credible news outlets, the two companies said.

Channel Factory supports brand suitability and contextual advertising platform, while Ad Fontes Media focuses on rating news for bias and reliability.

The two companies combined believe the partnership will give advertisers greater access to reliable and diverse news organizations that were previously blocked will be curated and available to advertisers.

Recent research released by Stagwell at the Future of News summit showed news inventory typically performs equally well as sports and entertainment content, and is better than average for the 11% of consumers who are avid news followers.

The News & Politics category has proven to deliver roughly 16% of total campaign impressions when not blocked, according to the companies.

The partnership increasing capabilities such as targeting consumers of various affiliations with key messaging in contexts that align with (or challenge) their personal leanings, unlocking large pools of ad inventory within credible news channels on social media without sacrificing brand safety, and targeting messages to voters while ensuring their ads run against credible content.