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A seemingly endless list platform options i advertising methods has resulted in a chaotic media buying ecosystem. While choice is appreciated, clarity and transparency have become rare commodities, leaving advertisers facing questions about where their ads appear, the quality of content surrounding ad placements and campaign effectiveness.
These questions were the focus of a recent panel discussion at Advertising Week in New York convened Clicks, Quality and Chaos: The Real Media Buying Talk. host Katie IngramEuropean director of Advertising Week, met with industry experts Vincent MeyerHead of Strategic Associations of Taboola, and Chris Kanefounder and president of Jounce Mediaas they shared their perspectives on the state of the industry and offered tangible advice to advertisers looking to take back control and extract maximum value from their ad spend.
Check out the main takeaways below, or watch the entire discussion if you don’t want to miss anything!
MFA and The ‘Gotcha’ Moment websites
To set the stage for the discussion, Katie asked Chris to provide a brief overview of Made for Advertising (MFA) websites, which have become controversial in the industry.
As Kane explained, “There are news sites and MFA sites. MFA sites generate a bunch of vanity metrics like high ad viewability, low detected bot traffic, brand safe content , high video completion rates and low CPMs, but no sales.”
Knowing that brands want to be surrounded by valuable, premium content and engage with genuine users, Katie asked how advertisers can identify and avoid these low-quality sites.
Vince emphasized the importance of transparency in addressing this concern. “At Taboola we want to explain what our portfolio looks like. We represent a lot of publishers, and we want to get that in front of advertisers.” This approach and conversations about what brands should and shouldn’t do avoid the “getting moment” that happens when brands feel they’ve been cheated .
Chris elaborated on the idea of ”moment of obtainment”, explaining that recent research has led the industry to question whether the provision of MFA was beneficial or harmful. When it became clear that buyers did not want this supply, the sales side was ready to react. He said: “The broader lesson is that buyers need to be clear about what they want and the sales side will respond.”
Tracking traffic sources to MFA sites
Katie turned to Chris to discuss Jounce Media’s methodology for identifying which platform players are driving traffic to these sites.
Through the company’s research, it became clear that Facebook it is the soul of these places. Kane described the situation bluntly: “If any other traffic source stopped sending traffic to MFA publishers, nothing would change. If Facebook decides not to send any more traffic to content arbitration, that publisher category evaporates “.
Vincent believes the real problem is that marketers often don’t know their ads are running on these sites. He mentioned that Taboola has minimal representation because the quick arbitrage model that MFA sites use, showing up to 50 ads in a minute or two to maximize profit, is not compatible with the experience or structure of Taboola ads. Recognizing this incompatibility allowed Taboola to create its own Taboola Select Solutionwhich ensures that ads only appear on non-MFA sites.
Balance quality and scale
Changing subjects slightly, Katie posed her next question: “Brands are looking for quality and scale, but it’s hard to get the right balance. How can platforms, measurement companies and agencies achieve this scale without the risk of losing genuine user involvement?
Vincent acknowledged that this is a difficult thing to do. He suggested that instead of worrying about metrics, advertisers should focus on the purpose of campaigns. He gave an example to illustrate why vanity metrics aren’t important, saying: “If I sell shoes, my goal is not to have a lot of visibility. It’s to sell shoes.”
In Chris’s experience, every media campaign must balance competing incentives: trusted publisher inventory, KPIs, and budget. Unfortunately, “when something has to give, it’s not the KPIs or the budget.” Chris mentioned that during private conversations, some agencies and brands choose to “only buy what will impact KPIs” because even though the metrics are flawed, they are still seen as a demonstration of success.
Changing strategies and relying on data
Katie brought the discussion back to the title of the event with her next question: “With so many platforms, inventory types and more, how can advertisers successfully navigate such a complex environment and how can measurement providers help third parties to overcome the chaos?”
Chris believes that media teams who care brand safety and KPIs will continue to work with verification companies. However, he emphasized that this approach should be complemented by human oversight that creates boundaries around which the supply of trusted publishers or portfolios should be purchased.
Vincent cautioned against limiting partnerships to just a few trusted publisher groups, explaining that Taboola works with thousands of small and medium-sized publishers that provide excellent opportunities to connect with local communities. Not working with these publishers equals lost audiences.
He thinks tools should make information and data points more visible, and that platforms like Taboola have a responsibility to help build trust between advertisers and publishers.
Rebuilding trust in the open web
The topic of trust has been a recurring theme in digital advertising, so Katie asked how the open web can build more trust with brands and agencies.
Vincent admitted that trust in the open web has been broken and that platforms and publishers need to do a lot more to fix it, but questioned why advertisers still trust walled gardens that don’t offer transparency, reporting or data Regardless of the rationale, he believes trust can be rebuilt by having open conversations about advertiser expectations and working with publishers to develop experiences that can meet them.
Chris added that small publishers already recognize that they don’t have the resources to build and manage trusted buy-side relationships, so they outsource that work. Mid-market publishers need to come to the same conclusion because if they don’t start working with trusted partners, their supply will become irrelevant.
Advance transparency and responsibility in the media
This conversation highlights that most companies share a common vision for open web media: to encourage greater transparency and collaboration to ensure that all parties are aligned with their goals. By moving beyond “get” moments, advertisers and publishers can focus on creating real value and showcasing publishers’ unique contributions. Supported by third-party data, advertisers now have the tools to validate campaign performance with confidence, scaling their efforts in a brand-safe environment that champions quality content from journalists, creators and sources various entertainment.