Brand safety protects a brand’s reputation by preventing ads from appearing near harmful or unsuitable content. It reduces risk, supports trust, and keeps campaigns aligned with brand values. The digital environment changes fast, and content can shift without warning. A safe placement one moment can become inappropriate the next. Brand safety controls help avoid these situations. This article shows marketers how to enable brand safety features on the illumin platform.
| 🟪 Need brand safety refresher? Click here to get a quick brand safety overview. . |
Opening the Brand Safety targeting page
How marketers open the page depends on whether targeting applies at the journey level or the tactic level. Learn both workflows here.
Configuring journey-levels settings
Choose this option to apply settings to all campaigns and tactics in the journey.
- Go the Journey Settings page.
- Click the Open Web & DOOH Targeting menu link.
- Click the Brand Safety tab.
- Configure settings. (see below)
Configuring tactic-levels settings
Marketers can apply rules at the tactic level.
- Open a campaign on the Canvas (new experience).
- Select a tactic.
- Click the Targeting tab.
- Scroll down to the Brand Safety tab
- Click the pencil icon to open a side panel.
- Go to the side panel and uncheck the Keep journey targeting settings box.
- Configure settings. (see below)
Enabling brand safety settings
There are a three brand safety options.
- Peer39 helps advertisers place ads on web pages with the right kind of content. Peer39 reads the text on a page to make sure it’s a good fit for the brand. Unlike the others, Peer39 focuses on the words on the page and not the images or videos.
- DoubleVerify ensures ads are viewed by real people in safe environments. It does more than just check content. It has a suite of tools that look for bots, confirm ads are viewable, and make sure they run in the right places, on the right screens.
- GumGum uses AI to understand not just the words on a page, but also pictures, videos, and sounds, so ads don’t end up next to weird or offensive stuff. It examines everything on the screen, not just text, so it’s a better choice for protecting brands in image-heavy or video environments, like YouTube or CTV.
Categories
Use category filters to include (or exclude) content types that align with campaign goals. You can go broad or get super specific, skipping categories like adult content or violent news, while zeroing in on those that resonate with your audience.
After you enable custom edits, click the Add selected button. The platform adds the settings to the panel. Click the Save button to keep the changes. If you add tactic-level targeting, the platform moves the tab to the Custom targeting section of the page.
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FAQs
What types of campaigns benefit most from brand safety targeting?
Brand safety targeting benefits campaigns that prioritize reputation protection, regulated industries, and awareness goals. It also supports campaigns that run on open web, video, or CTV inventory where content context can change quickly.
Can marketers use more than one brand safety provider at the same time?
Marketers typically select one primary brand safety provider per tactic. Using multiple providers may overlap controls and further restrict inventory. Selection usually depends on media type, verification needs, and content format.
Does brand safety targeting replace manual site blocklists?
Brand safety targeting doesn't replace manual blocklists. Automated controls work at scale, while blocklists address known problem domains. Many teams use both methods to manage risk more effectively.
What happens if no brand safety categories are selected?
If no categories are selected, ads may serve without additional suitability filters beyond default platform protections. This approach increases reach but also increases exposure risk. Most campaigns apply at least basic exclusions to reduce obvious threats.
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Configure Open Web & DOOH targeting