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Marketers Can't Quit Walled Gardens Despite Brand Suitability Fears
A new report from DoubleVerify finds 88% of marketers use walled gardens like Meta and TikTok, though nearly two-thirds worry about brand suitability.
Key Points
- A new report from DoubleVerify finds 88% of marketers use walled gardens like Meta and TikTok, though nearly two-thirds worry about brand suitability.
- This reliance is driven by consumer behavior, as 30% of users purchase directly in-app and creators influence over half of buying decisions.
- The rise of AI-generated media creates a new brand safety challenge, with nearly 60% of consumers now seeing AI posts on social platforms.
- Despite large audiences, nearly half of marketers say reaching their target demographic is their biggest challenge, amplifying brand safety concerns.
A new global report from DoubleVerify reveals a core conflict in advertising: while 88% of marketers use walled gardens like Meta and TikTok, almost two-thirds of them harbor significant fears about their brands showing up next to unsafe content.
Hooked on the reach: The dependency comes down to one thing: it’s where the customers are. Social platforms have become digital malls, with 30% of consumers purchasing directly from an app in the last year. Add to that the power of creators, who now influence more than half of consumers' purchasing decisions, making these platforms impossible for brands to ignore.
The AI minefield: The explosion of AI-generated media adds another layer of anxiety, creating a new minefield for brands. Nearly 60% of consumers now report seeing AI posts on social platforms—more than double the rate on search—blurring the line between human and machine creation.
The transparency tax: “As advertisers ramp investments across these platforms, they’re also demanding campaign effectiveness and accountability,” said Mark Zagorski, CEO of DoubleVerify. He added that while these platforms promise massive scale, “sustainable value ultimately depends on transparency and trust.”
The irony for marketers is that even with massive user bases, nearly half cite simply reaching their target audience as their biggest challenge. That anxiety is amplified in bigger companies, where brand suitability concerns leap to nearly three-quarters for those with over 5,000 employees.
This tension is fueling a broader industry conversation about the risks of over-reliance on closed ecosystems. Some experts are now framing the open web as a strategic "antidote" to the "content crisis" inside walled gardens, while others are making the case for diversifying ad spend to improve brand safety and broaden audience reach.
