Impact of ad adjacency on purchase decision in the U.S. 2021

During a March 2021 survey carried out among adult consumers from the United States, nearly 40 percent of respondents said they were likely (extremely or somewhat likely) to decide to buy brands' and companies' products based on where their ads appear. Ad publishers have adopted a strategy called keyword blocking or blacklisting to avoid publishing ads next to content which associates negatively and endangers the reputation of the advertising brand. This phenomenon causes digital ad revenue losses among online publishers who are bound to report on negative news, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, but will not be able to attract brands to advertise next to such content.