What is it about?
Online ads are a major source of information on the web. The mass reach of online advertising is often leveraged for information dissemination – not just advertising products or services – at times with an objective to influence public opinion (e.g., election misinformation). We hypothesized that online advertising, due to its reach and potential, might have been used to spread information around the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Thus, to understand the online ad ecosystem during this conflict, we conducted a five-month long large-scale measurement study of online advertising in Ukraine, Russia, and the US. We studied advertising trends of ad platforms that delivered ads in Ukraine, Russia, and the US and conducted an in-depth qualitative analysis of the conflict-related ad content. We found that prominent US-based advertisers continued to support Russian websites despite public statements to the contrary, and a portion of online ads were used to spread conflict-related information, including protesting the invasion, and spreading awareness, which might have otherwise potentially been censored in Russia.
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Why is it important?
In this paper, we study the spread of information through the online advertising ecosystem to systematically understand its potential impact on users, during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. This topic is of significant importance because information spread through online advertising can both be disadvantageous and beneficial for the users. On one hand the spread of harmful content (e.g., misleading clickbait, outright misinformation) through online advertising can have potentially negative consequences for Ukraninans, who are suffering from the invasion. On the other hand, humanitarian groups, non-profit organizations, and for-profit brands can leverage online advertising to spread information (e.g., aiming to bypass Russian censorship) or support humanitarian efforts (e.g., seeking donations for Ukraine). The findings of our research present a clear picture into the spread of information through the online advertising ecosystem, during the times of conflict and to the vulnerable populations, i.e., people suffering through the invasion. These findings could help ad platforms and regulatory bodies better moderate the ad content.
Perspectives
Journalists are increasingly interested in using data-driven mechanisms to investigate current issues, e.g., elections, conflicts, etc. Since online advertising is an important component of the information ecosystem, they provide an excellent opportunity to study the flow of information. Our research provides a blueprint that information journalists and researchers can use to systematically analyze current issues through the online advertising ecosystem.
Umar Iqbal
University of Washington
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Online Advertising in Ukraine and Russia During the 2022 Russian Invasion, April 2023, ACM (Association for Computing Machinery),
DOI: 10.1145/3543507.3583484.
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