COVER STORY
Summer 2017 / Issue 54
Ethics in Digital Advertising
Digital Advertising 101With great
power comes great responsibility.
This oft-quoted Spiderman movie
phrase suits the topic of advertising
ethics, especially in the digital field
that is largely unregulated and too
complex to be universally under-
stood and regulated by advertisers
themselves. In this day and age,
marketers have the power to place
strategic communication across a
variety of channels on top of the
traditional package (radio, TV, out-
door). We see examples of that on
a daily basis; almost all local and
global campaigns are present on
Facebook, Instagram, Google,
Twitter, Snapchat, LinkedIn, and
others. Most of these digital plat-
forms offer marketers tools that
allow them to segment audiences
very precisely, then track and
“deep dive” into very specific and
thorough analytical data that gauge
the effectiveness of their communi-
cations and customer habits.
Meanwhile, most customers are
completely unaware that every-
thing they do on these platforms is
being used to improve marketers’
effectiveness. While the platforms
themselves self-regulate to some
extent, it is not very effective in
smaller markets like Macedonia;
bad and unethical ads can go
unnoticed for days, even weeks,
mostly because of the total ad vol-
ume, language barriers or delays in
the ads being reported as unethi-
cal by users.
Add to that the ‘fake news’ phe-
nomenon, which is highly present
here due to the same lack of self-
or formal regulation. The result is a
ton of online portals and websites
that offer any kind of “news” you
can imagine selling ad space with
no questions asked.How Can Eth-
ical Advertisers Survive Here?
When an advertiser comes to an
agency or a marketer and provides
them with a set of requests and a
budget, it entrusts its message to
the marketer’s judgement in help-
ing their company move forward,
stand still or even go backwards.
History is full of examples where
bad advertising ruined a company.
Damjan Dano,
Co-founder &
Partner, IWM
Network
In the absence of self-regulating advertising bodies and a coherent
set of relevant laws, here are some tips to avoid unethical advertising
in the digital era.
#1 Paid vs. Editorial Content
This is a no-brainer. News and editorial content should be clearly
differentiated from paid ads. Many local advertisers don’t disclose
paid content, and even more editors of online media encourage and
accept this practice. This is unethical because customers are tricked
into thinking the content they’re reading is written according to the
standards of professional journalists, while it is actually strategic adver-
tising that is directly or indirectly promoting a product or service.Want
to avoid this? Add the labels “Sponsored” or “Promoted content” visi-
ble in either the article title or somewhere before users engage with the
content. Ideally, you should tell readers who paid for the promoted PR
text if no logo or company is mentioned.
#2 Big clients ≠ Editorial Power
Big clients have big advertising budgets. Too often, they spend
advertising funds only with platforms that commit not to publish any
criticism of them while their ad campaign is running. This is unethical
because it is a form of direct censorship.
Want to avoid this? Advertisers need to understand that just because
they place ads on a certain website, they do NOT own it, nor have
the right to dictate what is published there. It is also unacceptable for
editors to accept such requests and thereby abuse the trust given to
them by their readers. Editors should, thus, abide by journalistic ethics
and marketers should understand that they are buying a service, not
editorial power.
#3 If it has unethical content, skip it!
If a marketer places their advertising on a channel that spreads
unethical content (e.g., racism, insults, religious discrimination), the
brand they represent will be tainted by the channel’s lack of ethics.
People’s decision making process depends to a large extent on their
unconscious mind; if your ad is placed next to unethical content, rest
assured that somewhere in readers’ subconscious, you will be seen as
supporting that content.Want to avoid this? Focus your campaigns on
quality, not on quantity. Read the numbers and carefully consider what
they mean, bearing in mind that while a site may have a lot of visitors,
it may be due to their habit of publishing controversial headlines, insult-
ing content or manipulating readers voyeurism. Avoid fake news by
staying clear of channels that publish articles without authors’ names,
and most definitely keep your distance from media that don’t have a
clear structure of ownership (i.e., Impressum) and contact information.
#4 Tricking Customers on Social Media
Social media is the heart of the jungle. Almost every customer
with Internet access is using it for a few hours each day, leaving vast
amounts of personal information available for misuse. Because of the
above-mentioned tools provided by the various social media platforms,
marketers have the power to segment customers into extremely spe-
cific groups – for example, on Facebook marketers can target peo-
ple who have recently changed their relationship status from married
to divorced. Advertiser should use this kind of narrow tar geting with
extreme caution to avoid manipulating their customer’s emotional state
for monetary gain.Want to avoid this? As a marketer, respect your cus-
tomers. Avoid manipulating vulnerable people at any cost. If you are
using a segmented audience that is in a sensitive state, be careful with
your messaging and know that your ad could affect another human
being negatively. As a client, hold your agency/marketer to high ethical
standards.
AmCham Macedonia Magazine
17