Digital Advertising is “Nightmarish Joke”, States CEO of NY Times

Count Mark Thompson, CEO of The New York Times, among those unhappy with the state of the digital ad market, beset by fraud, bots, bad ad placements and oodles of ad tech, reports Digiday, which added:

““The world of digital advertising is a nightmarish joke,” he said during a panel discussion at Cannes. “Mark Zuckerberg’s first post about fake news, Facebook managed to serve an ad for fake news next to it. It’s a joke. It’s out of control. There are all sorts of creepy, borderline fraudulent middlemen, this thicket of strange companies, tracking pixels on everything. You couldn’t think of a more dangerous environment for a brand.”

“In case there was any mistaking his position, Thompson added a further assessment: “a complete mess.”

 ““In terms of brand safety, you couldn’t think of a more dangerous environment,” he added. “A monster has been created.””

Read the full Digiday story here.