This month, three conversations are converging across brand safety and suitability that all point in the same direction: the old playbooks need updating. Creator partnerships are maturing beyond experimentation. AI-generated content is scaling faster than anyone's ability to define it. And the assumption that news environments are inherently risky continues to crumble under the weight of new evidence.
At BSI, we believe the best defense against these shifting dynamics is education, not avoidance. That is the thread running through everything in this issue: better frameworks, better questions, and better data to help you make decisions with confidence. Let's get into it.
Creator partnerships on TikTok and across platforms have moved well beyond the experimentation phase. They are now a core component of media strategy for brands of all sizes. But as spending grows, so does the need for clear standards around suitability and alignment. Which creators match your brand values? How do you evaluate content environments that are dynamic, personal, and constantly evolving? These are the questions the industry needs to answer, and they require more than gut instinct.
That is why TikTok and BSI have partnered on the Creator Suitability Report, a joint initiative designed to advance safe and effective practices in creator-driven advertising. The report provides a shared framework for how brands, agencies, and platforms can approach creator partnerships with the same rigor they apply to other media channels. It represents a meaningful step toward making suitability a standard part of the creator conversation.
Whether you are building a creator program from scratch or refining an existing one, this report offers practical guidance grounded in the realities of how creator content actually works.
Unraveling Innovation Disruption with Jeffrey Cole
BSI is proud to introduce Defend & Deliver, our new podcast exploring the forces reshaping advertising, media, and brand safety. In the inaugural episode, host Louis Jones sits down with Jeffrey Cole, a leading researcher on technology and media trends, to unpack how disruption actually happens and why even the biggest companies often fail to see it coming.
The conversation covers the fear surrounding AI, how ChatGPT caught established search players off guard, and what it means for trust and advertising when "seeing is no longer believing." If you want to understand the structural shifts happening beneath the surface of our industry, this is the place to start.
Advertising Alongside War Coverage Is Brand Safe. Here's the Proof.
The instinct to pull ads from news during conflict is understandable, but the data tells a different story. Research from Stagwell, DoubleVerify, and others shows that news environments drive higher engagement and attention than many alternatives. Worse, when brands avoid news inventory, programmatic systems redirect spend to lower-quality environments like MFA sites. This piece walks through the evidence and makes the case for a more nuanced approach. 👉 Read the article
The AI Slop Definition That Matters Most Is the One You Haven't Written Yet
Roughly 40% of web traffic now comes from AI-generated content, and the industry still doesn't have a shared definition for what counts as "slop." Dave Byrne, TrustRaise founder and BSI Advisory Board member, traces the parallels to the MFA debate and offers a 4-question decision framework brands can use right now to set their own tolerance thresholds, rather than waiting for consensus that may never arrive. 👉 Read the article
RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT New Study: Zefr x OM Media Trials on AI Content and Ad Performance
An industry-leading study from Zefr and OM Media Trials directly measured how ads perform next to different categories of AI-generated content, and found that AI content is not inherently harmful for brands. In fact, in certain categories like satire and creative expression, ad adjacency drove increases in recall and perceptions of innovation. The study also found that 41% of consumers feel more positive about a brand when AI content is clearly labeled. This is exactly the kind of nuanced, evidence-based research the industry needs more of. We will continue tracking this space closely. 👉 Explore the research at Zefr
Get Featured in Our Next Issue!
Are you hiring? Have a POV, study, or story to share? Want to highlight your brand safety wins or challenges? Let us help amplify your voice. Click here to contribute
Thanks for being part of the BSI community, the advertising industry's community of practice for brand and people safety. We look forward to bringing you more insights, updates, and industry news next month.
