From a Cannes Lion “on the ground” thought piece to the announcement of our brand new podcast with some of the brightest minds in our space.
Brand Safety requires practitioners to account for a wide variety of questions, such as: What story is your brand telling, and who tells it well? Where does it appear, and next to what? How is it being talked about in environments you don't control? Who's making the decisions that affect it? And what recourse do you have when they get it wrong? This issue has something useful for each.
In brand safety and suitability, the source of content has become as important as the content itself. Keyword filters and contextual classifiers can tell you what a piece of content is about. They can't tell you who made it, what they stand for, or whether their values align with yours. That gap is where the next wave of brand safety work is happening, and the BSI Newsletter digs into what this looks like in practice.
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.
A lot is happening at BSI. In this month’s newsletter, we wanted to zoom out to share what we’ve been up to over the last few months, and what we have coming up. Whether you've been following closely or this is your first read in a while, here's where things stand.
This month’s theme is precision over blunt instruments. As the ecosystem shifts faster than policies and legacy controls can keep up, brand safety and suitability are becoming less about “avoidance” and more about governance, context, and confidence across every environment where brands show up. From open-web programmatic supply chains to AI training foundations to the surge in brand misappropriation scams, the throughline is clear: trust is earned through better context and real accountability made available by advances in technology. We’re excited to share a new resource for marketers navigating brand safety & suitability in the open web, as well as insights from BSI Advisory Board member Dave Byrne on combatting brand impersonation scams in the age of AI and what the industry needs to watch out for in 2026.
2025 Newsletters
Brand safety continues to evolve at a pace that challenges long-held assumptions. As platforms adjust enforcement, AI reshapes content creation and distribution, and new forms of risk emerge, many organizations are discovering that familiar tools and frameworks no longer reflect how media actually operates today. This month’s issue focuses on that shift. From forward-looking analysis on where brand safety is headed in 2026 to practical discussions about AI-driven environments, the common theme is clear: safety has moved from a static checklist item to a dynamic strategic function.
As the digital media landscape grows ever more complex, the question is no longer whether brands should invest in safety, suitability, and responsibility; it’s how they embed these principles into every layer of media planning and execution, and quantify the business value of these efforts. This month we focus on how responsible media has moved from being a compliance checkbox to a strategic lever to drive business outcomes. We'll explore why the environments where your ads run matter just as much as the targeting or creative, why infrastructure and partnerships underpin every safe impression, and how education and best practices are evolving to meet today’s challenges. Whether you’re a brand, agency, publisher or tech partner, this edition is designed to help you act with clarity and purpose in this shifting landscape.
This month’s theme is governance in practice. With platform complexity rising, brand safety and performance hinge on how teams translate strategy into the thousands of settings that control delivery. The gap between intent and implementation is where risk hides. We explore a governance-first approach to campaign setup, then round up timely reads on infrastructure resilience, trust, relevance, and defense-in-depth. The goal is simple: clear standards, consistent execution, and outcomes that align with what your brand stands for.
The brand safety conversation continues to evolve, moving from simple risk avoidance to a wider dialogue about suitability, responsibility, and business impact. This issue revisits our conversation with Phil Cowdell and Louis Jones, and pairs it with perspectives on global media restrictions, AI’s uncertain economic future, and the continuing challenges of youth safety online.
The conversation around brand safety is evolving. What was once a matter of avoiding harmful content is now a complex web of responsible media efforts under increasing scrutiny for their impact on performance. This month, we highlight a compelling three-part video series featuring Phil Cowdell and Louis Jones that reframes brand safety through the lens of performance, suitability, and purpose. From AI disruption to youth protection, advertisers today must navigate an ecosystem in which context, values, and outcomes are all intertwined.
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AI is rewriting the rules, but not always for the better. As automation reshapes creative, brand safety, and measurement, the stakes for getting it right are rising fast. In this issue, we explore the tension between synthetic scale and authentic connection, why current brand safety systems keep falling short, and how smarter standards can protect both trust and performance.