Harvin Gupta, Director of Solutions Engineering at Xandr used his 99-second talk at the 99//Club Digital Festival to discuss keyword blocklists. “I do not believe that this is a good solution to the brand safety problem,” argued Gupta, highlighting that keyword blocking can cause publishers to filter out neutral or even positive stories in the name of brand safety.
“Because of this, publishers, the same premium publishers we’re looking to as a source of trusted news, are missing out on a critical revenue stream”, said Harvin in the video below. “Of course there are going to be some news stories that are simply not appropriate for brands, but keyword blocking is a blunt instrument and leads to far too many false positives.”
NDA will be publishing highlights from the Festival, run in partnership with MAD//Fest, over the coming weeks.
The week-long invite-only festival was a collaboration between MAD//Fest and New Digital Age. Over the course of five days, 99 speakers debated topics across themes including media and tech, customer experience and personalisation, brand experience and creativity and innovation for growth.
