Brand Safety: How Advertisers Can Avoid Underblocking and Overblocking Ad Placements

 


What if your ads aren’t reaching the people you want, but are still showing up in places you never approved? That’s the hidden problem with keyword overblocking and underblocking. When you overblock, your brand loses visibility in safe and relevant environments, allowing competitors to dominate the spaces you should have owned. When you underblock, your ads risk appearing next to unsafe or irrelevant content, hurting your brand reputation and audience trust.

This creates a clear domino effect: lost reach, weaker impact, wasted budgets, and declining brand credibility. And most brands don’t even realize that these issues start with one flawed assumption; that keyword blocking alone can keep their ads safe.

In this blog, we break down why keyword blocking as a brand safety strategy is fundamentally limited, what brands really need to understand about ad placement quality, and how they can make better, context-aware decisions. We’ll also explore how mFilterIt’s brand safety solution gives you accurate, real-time visibility and ensures your ads show up exactly where they should, without compromising reach or brand reputation.

What is Underblocking and Overblocking of Ad Placements and What Causes Them?

Underblocking happens when ads appear next to content that is unsafe, unsuitable, or misaligned with the brand’s image. This includes news about violence, misinformation, hate speech, extremist views, or overly negative content.

What causes underblocking of ad placements?

  • Relying only on basic keyword blocklists methods
  • No understanding of page-level meaning, intent, or sentiment
  • Filters that cannot interpret regional languages or cultural context
  • Lack of monitoring of publishers, apps, or channels
  • Limited detection of low-quality or fraudulent environments

Overblocking occurs when ads are restricted from being placed next to content that is actually safe, relevant, and appropriate. This reduces delivery scale and prevents ads from reaching potential audiences.

What causes overblocking of ad placements?

  • Relying on broad keyword filters
  • One-size-fits-all global safety settings
  • Filters unable to differentiate between informational vs harmful content
  • Blocking entire topics or domains due to a single keyword
  • Misinterpretation of regional or cultural content

Consequences of Keyword Overblocking and Underblocking: What Advertisers Miss

Many advertisers feel that keyword-based filters are enough to prevent their ads from unsafe placements. This has been their go-to strategy for brand safety. However, this approach leaves huge gaps in the process of brand safety and protection. Keyword systems only catch what they are explicitly asked for, leading to overblocking or underblocking of ad placements in many scenarios.

For example, a family-focused FMCG brand’s ad may appear beside a YouTube video with explicit visuals, even though the video title contains harmless keywords. Without visual and sentiment analysis, the placement slips through keyword filters, allowing the ad to run beside inappropriate content that damages brand perception.

This is an example of underblocking and here are the consequences underblocking of ad placements leads to:

Brand Safety Concerns

When ads appear next to harmful or controversial content, consumers may directly associate the brand with negativity. A single unsafe ad placement can trigger brand reputation risks and backlash across social platforms.

Exposure to Fraud or Low-Quality Traffic

Underblocking often means ads might show up on low-quality MFA websites or spam pages, leading to inflated impressions and wasted spending.

Poor Conversion Efficiency

Ads may appear in irrelevant or unsafe environments, where users are less likely to engage or convert—driving up CPA and reducing return on ad spend.

Compliance & Suitability Failures

Regulated industries like BFSI, healthcare, or kids’ categories face stricter content rules. Underblocking increases the risk of ads appearing in restricted categories.


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