Keyword block lists put $180m in news advertising at risk, report says

Published Mediaweek

A 1,200-story audit found common news terms could trigger exclusions, leaving advertisers with less reach than expected.

Outdated brand safety settings could prevent advertisers from reaching 23 million potential ad interactions a year across Australian news, according to research released by ThinkNewsBrands.

The industry body estimates that misapplied keyword blocking puts the equivalent of $180 million in annual advertising spend at risk. Its report, Beyond Brand Safety. The Trust Advantage: Why context and credibility matter for brands, was released on World News Day.

“The evidence exposes outdated keyword block lists as a wolf in sheep’s clothing,” ThinkNewsBrands CEO Vanessa Lyons said.

“These lists are supposed to protect brands from appearing near harmful content online, but when they’re applied bluntly to trusted journalism, they do the exact opposite. They are excluding brands from engaged audiences in trusted news environments.”

When ‘Victoria’ becomes a brand safety risk
ThinkNewsBrands audited 1,200 articles from Australian news publishers published between July 2025 and June 2026. It found 57 per cent contained at least one term capable of triggering an exclusion rule. The audit also found 38 per cent of stories classified as “lower sensitivity” were incorrectly excluded.

Business and finance was the most affected category, with lists flagging words such as “bank”, “crash” and “dispute”. Sport accounted for a third of blocked articles. The word most frequently triggering the lists was “Victoria”.

The research found “Paris” remained on an exclusion list long after the 2015 terror attacks, potentially affecting advertising opportunities around the 2024 Paris Olympics.

“This is a classic case of a list that was set up 10 years ago and left to just continue automatically blocking ads. To miss such a pivotal moment like the Olympics is a massive miss for brands,” Lyons said.

“Brand safety tools should do what they say on the tin: protect brands. They shouldn’t quietly kneecap their campaigns.”

Marketers question the controls
The report found advertisers consider brand safety controls almost twice as necessary on social platforms as in news, yet Australian journalism faces tougher settings. Only one in three marketers said they were confident brand safety systems make appropriate placement decisions within news.

“For brands, this raises governance questions across the entirety of their media mix – what protections are operating? Who makes those decisions? What can I see? What control do I have?” Lyons said.

“Responsible media investment starts with knowing what you are buying. That means applying consistent standards of transparency, control and accountability.”

ThinkNewsBrands recommends that marketers audit their keyword, category and domain exclusions, compare controls across their digital spend, and consider contextual tools or direct publisher solutions where they need more precise placement controls.

The report also found 66 per cent of readers were fully or mostly focused while consuming news, more than 20 percentage points ahead of creator content. Lyons said the cost of blunt blocking went beyond missed campaign reach.

“At best, outdated blocklists are unnecessarily limiting your campaign’s reach and effectiveness. At worst, advertisers are paying for systems that redirect investment away from trusted Australian journalism.”