Advertisers shun coronavirus coverage, hastening press battle for survival

From Rupert Murdoch's News UK to McClatchy's chain of local newspapers over the United States, news publishers are attracting record amounts of readers as people in lockdown seek details about the coronavirus pandemic.

Yet advertising earnings has plummeted for many publishers as companies slash marketing budgets and prove reluctant to buy advertisements against coronavirus coverage for concern with tarnishing their brand.

Forecasts for global advertising growth this season have been revised down by $20 billion since March 12, according to market research firm eMarketer. It estimates ad spending growth of just 8.4% in China, where the outbreak began, the slowest since 2011.

Total local advertising in the United States could decline by up to 30% this season, or $38 billion, according to media research firm Borrell Associates.

Publishers, advertising agencies and tech firms that help place advertising have been trying to persuade brands to rethink, arguing that by eschewing coronavirus coverage, advertisers are losing usage of engaged readers.

So far, they may actually experienced limited success.

"I cannot say we've yet noticed a change," said Ben Walmsley, commercial director for publishing at News UK, a division of News Corp. "I believe change will be relatively slow."

ViacomCBS-owned CBS News Digital has made some headway with marketers and agencies, said Christy Tanner, its executive vice president and general manager. "But it’s been more slow-going than almost all of us want."

The Washington Post and the Atlantic said in addition they hadn't seen a shift in behavior from advertisers who are avoiding pandemic content.

The industry was already suffering from declining advertising revenue. Gannett, BuzzFeed, Britain's MailOnline and News Corp Australia have all announced furloughs, pay cuts or other cost-cutting measures.

Damon Reeve, CEO of the Ozone Project, which sells the online ad inventory of a majority of British national titles, said he previously heard that advertising had been kept away from up to 60% of editorial content.

A representative for Reuters news organization said the company has also experienced a direct effect and cited an ADVERTISING ON THE INTERNET Bureau study that showed 70% of advertisers have scaled back ad spending over the industry during this period.

"Factual news coverage on the global pandemic is vital and should be supported," Reuters CEO Michael Friedenberg said on Twitter https://twitter.com/mfriedenberg/status/1245797237977948163 on April 2. "It really is incumbent after the ad tech and verification industry to make certain that trusted news from reputable sources about Covid-19 isn't blocked by safety filters."

Five of the top U.S. advertising spenders this past year - Comcast, AT&T, Amazon, P&G and General Motors - either declined to comment or did not react to questions about their advertising policies.

‘Blacklist’ backlash 

For a long time, ad tech firms such as for example DoubleVerify have offered tools for brands to avoid ads from appearing on webpages or URLs that include keywords like "shooting" or "murder." These advertising "blacklists" exploded in consumption following the 2016 U.S. election, when brands sought in order to avoid polarizing news coverage.

"Trump" was typically the most popular blacklist keyword until "coronavirus" overtook it earlier this season, with more than 3,100 advertisers blocking it by March, according to ad tech firm Integral Ad Science.

Ad agencies GroupM and Universal McCann have advised clients against blacklisting all coronavirus articles.

"There are stories about death tolls in Italy or the united kingdom which wouldn't normally be very appropriate to be monetized, but there are stories about communities coming together and we wouldn't want to block that sort of content," said Stevan Randjelovic, GroupM's director of brand safety and digital risk.

Some ad tech companies have urged brands to use tools that avoid advertisements from appearing on some however, not all articles regarding coronavirus. Trade groups representing news publishers have also called on the ad community to avoid using keyword blocking practices.

"The leaders that require to be speaking out are the advertising brands and the CMOs and I'm needs to see some of that," said Jason Kint, CEO of trade group Digital Content Next.

The Washington Post sales force is working directly with some advertisers who were previously purchasing advertisings through automated tools, which might avoid the Post if keyword blocking were applied, said Joy Robins, the newspaper's chief income officer.

"If we're not able to hand-hold and work directly with brands, there are a great number of unintended consequences with a blanket block," Robins said.