Context collapse: When programmatic automation turns brand messaging tone-deaf
As automation overrides empathy and brand safety falters during national tragedies, who’s accountable for the failures of programmatic advertising?
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During recent coverage of the Pahalgam terrorist attack, a routine scroll through YouTube revealed something jarring — pre-roll and display ads for brands like Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart, Goibibo, Niyo, Myntra, Urban Company, Farmley, pizza chains, astrology services, and health food brands running adjacent to emotionally charged news videos.
From travel aggregators to skincare and grocery delivery services, commercial messaging appeared moments before or below footage of national grief and violence, not as conscious placement, but as collateral damage of automation.
YouTube commented, "While being sensitive to reportage around tragic events, our Advertiser Friendly Guidelines allow journalistic reporting of sensitive events to be monetized when additional news, educational or documentary context has been provided. For advertisers who prefer their ads not be shown against certain types of content, we provide robust controls to decide exactly what kind of content their ads show on, allowing them to block videos they wish to avoid."
Niyo was the only brand among Blinkit, Swiggy, Myntra, Urban Company, Hoichoi, Goibibo, Nykaa, and Farmley to respond to Storyboard18’s queries.
“At Niyo, we are guided by integrity, transparency, and a strong sense of responsibility towards our users and the wider public. Our digital campaigns are designed with clear brand safety protocols, and we work closely with media partners to reduce the chances of our ads appearing next to content that may be sensitive, controversial, or misaligned with our values. However, ad placements are ultimately determined by automated systems on platforms like Google and Meta.”
On Meta platforms, the line is even blurrier. While Facebook doesn’t place ads directly inside videos, it leverages user data so aggressively that commercial content often follows viewers regardless of the surrounding emotional context. One instance involved a BookMyShow ad appearing beneath a user’s Facebook status mourning the sudden death of popular influencer Misha Agarwal.
Meta did not respond to queries.
A BookMyShow spokesperson explained, “At BookMyShow, we take digital safety and content placement into account in all marketing aspects and work within the framework of robust platform controls implemented by our advertising partners. The personalised nature of these platforms may occasionally position our advertisements within the same user session as sensitive content. However, these systems are designed to create appropriate separation between such materials."
"Our team works extensively with these platforms to ensure our brand appears exclusively in suitable environments that align with our values. We continuously monitor ad placements and remain committed to maintaining the highest standards of brand safety across all digital channels.”
Together, these examples reflect a growing concern in India’s digital ad ecosystem: the context collapse of programmatic advertising where brand messaging risks becoming tone-deaf, intrusive, or outright offensive, not by intent, but by automation.
The Flawed Safety Net of Keyword Blocking
For years, keyword blocklists have been the default approach to brand safety. Brands typically exclude words like “violence,” “death,” or “shooting” to avoid adjacency to controversial or traumatic content. But in practice, this approach is far too blunt.
Take the Oscars. Entire discussions about critically acclaimed films became off-limits to advertisers. A Best Picture nominee like Emilia Pérez about a cartel boss undergoing a life-altering transformation — may be flagged due to keywords like “cartel” or “drugs,” even in glowing reviews. Similarly, during March Madness, common basketball terms like “shot” or “shoot” can accidentally trigger ad blocks, despite the completely benign context.
Overblocking: The Hidden Risk
Keyword blocking doesn’t account for context, sentiment, or emotion. It’s a blunt tool in a world that demands nuance. Take the word “shoot” — it could refer to a crime scene or a photoshoot. “Apple” might mean a tech product or a fruit. Without context, automated systems end up blocking premium, brand-safe inventory that would otherwise be valuable.
This leads to overblocking, where brands miss out on credible news publishers, diverse creators, and large swathes of engaged audiences. Worse, it’s hard to detect overblocking as it often occurs at multiple points in the media supply chain, including within demand-side platforms (DSPs).
At the same time, underblocking remains a risk. Keywords alone can’t detect the true nature of a page if the risk isn't visible in the URL or headline leaving brands exposed to adjacency with unsafe content buried deeper in the page or video.
Avoiding all news or sensitive topics entirely is a missed opportunity. Consumers still seek out trusted journalism to stay informed. Brands that retreat from these environments lose credibility, context relevance, and emotional connection with their audiences.
To fix this, companies like IAS (Integral Ad Science) now offer granular contextual categories that let advertisers set more nuanced thresholds for different types of content. A brand might want to avoid “crime” in general but allow some crime coverage on legitimate news sites. IAS even helps prevent overblocking by allowing ads on safe homepages — often wrongly excluded due to attention-grabbing headlines.
Media measurement tools can help advertisers with true URL detection, powered by proprietary client-side script and fraud detection systems. That means we verify where an ad actually ran — not where it claims to. And when verification isn’t possible, tools like IAS give brands proactive mechanisms to avoid unclassified or invisible inventory altogether.
And while risks around sensitive content must be managed, brands can’t afford to stay silent during high-impact cultural moments that shape public attention and sentiment.
Major cultural moments like the Super Bowl —which drew a record 127.7 million viewers in 2025 highlight the massive impact of emotionally resonant content. With average ad spots costing $8 million for 30 seconds, brands don’t just want reach - they want relevance.
Whether it's a buzzer-beater in March Madness or a historic award win at the Oscars, these moments create real-time conversations. But to participate meaningfully and ethically brands must move beyond rigid, keyword-based controls and invest in context-aware, human-sensitive advertising strategies.
India’s digital ad ecosystem is no longer just about impressions and reach; it’s about responsibility, nuance, and context. In part two of this series, top marketing and media leaders weigh in on the way forward.
