Economic uncertainty is driving advertisers to prioritize performance often at the expense of brand safety and support for quality journalism, according to a new study from Advertiser Perceptions.  

The researcher asked marketers to list the top three reasons why they reduced spending with a given media company or platform. Agencies were asked the same question about main clients. Combined, 41% replied that recent campaign performance did not meet expectations. Forty-one percent also replied that “brand safety/suitability for my ads” was an issue. And 38% expressed concern about the reputation of the media company.  

That said, there was a seven-percentage point decline in the number of respondents agreeing with the statement that “our [company/agency] is adapting brand safety approaches to better combat disinformation and support credible journalism.”  

The study found a significant decline in organizations’ actions or priorities to support quality news sites and credible journalism. Fifty-five percent said that “supporting new organizations with ad dollars is important to my organization,” an 11-percentage point drop from a year ago when 66% of respondents said they believed that.  

Despite Trump’s war on diversity, equity and inclusion programs, DE&I remained a top social cause for marketers (38%). However, 21% reported no plans to align marketing with any social issues, up five points compared to 2024.  

Close to half (46%) reported having a policy on inclusion or exclusion of made-for-advertising sites and apps. The figure is significantly higher for agencies (54%) compared to marketers (33%).  

Among those with an explicit policy, 33% are okay with including MFA’s to improve campaign “vanity” metrics like reach and efficiency, the survey found. Just 19% said they believed paying for impressions on MFA sites is equivalent to fraud and should be eliminated. Forty-seven percent said they aim to minimize MFAs in ad buys but expect them to comprise a small portion of delivered impressions.