Chasen Campbell Surveyed By Campaigns & Elections In Article: CONSULTANTS SHRUG OFF AD FRAUD ANXIETY THAT’S GRIPPING BRANDS

The consumer advertising industry is facing a crisis of confidence over digital.

The bad news piled up this summer. The top advertising company in the world, London-based WPP PLC, saw it’s stock plummet after it’s bottom line was hit by brand advertisers scaling back their buys amid growing concerns over the effectiveness of online ads.

In just one case, Procter & Gamble, a top advertiser, cut it’s digital ad spend by $100 million in the last quarter. It’s only a fraction of the company’s more than $2.45 billion ad budget, but sent a clear message.

Meanwhile, to help assuage growing concerns over ad fraud, Google recently issued refunds — in some cases in six figures — to marketers whose ads ran on websites with fake traffic.

Consultants surveyed by C&E reported that their clients weren’t on the receiving end of any of that return. But that’s not keeping them up at night.

Chasen Campbell, a VP at the GOP digital firm Harris Media, said Google’s move wasn’t unprecedented.

“It’s not unheard of in advertising, but does seem to affect the big brand world more significantly,” Campbell said. “Facebook does the same when they encounter issues with incorrectly attributing clicks and other objectives. I can’t say I’ve personally experienced the same with Twitter, although I wouldn’t be shocked if they’ve done this as well.”