While advertising is often viewed negatively due to common unethical practices, this discussion served as a reminder that advertising itself isn’t inherently harmful. At its best, it helps the local food truck find customers, lets you know your favorite band is in town, or points you to a tool that enhances your hobby. More than selling products, it can also raise awareness of social issues and solutions that benefit the public.
Publishers stay afloat due to advertising revenue outside the walled gardens of social media giants, something that is necessary for independent journalism. One key finding in Häglund’s work was that the placement of ads alongside negative context had a negative influence on the brand perception, but this effect was not present at news sites. This is reassuring for news publishers, as it suggests they can report honestly on difficult topics without losing advertising revenue.
How can AI enhance contextual advertising? Häglund’s work highlights how Large Language Models (GenAI/LLMs) can be used for more detailed analysis of texts than before. E.g. opinionated texts can be broken down into opinion units which balances positive and negative arguments, making automatic analysis of a text more nuanced. This kind of technology has a clear use case in structuring and measuring the perception of a product or brand, reducing the manual labor that usually goes into such analysis.
One of the most interesting discussions centered on responsibilities in the advertising industry is, “Who is responsible for ensuring ethical practices in advertising?”. Is it the platforms, advertisers, data providers, or customers? While that remains to be determined, it is clear that every entity plays a part in the ecosystem, and that the answer is probably a combined effort between all. At Aeterna, we strive to do our part by not collecting any personal data, only targeting vetted publishers, and not creating publicly available segments that we think could be abused by an ill-willed advertiser. Check out the Conscious Advertising Network (https://www.consciousadnetwork.com/) if you want to learn more about what you can do at your organization!
Aeterna Labs congratulates Dr. Emil Häglund for his fine scientific contribution at the intersection of AI and contextual advertising! We hope to stay in touch wherever you go in the future.
Text by Anton Eklund
Head of Research at Aeterna Labs