A recent Adweek investigation uncovered a troubling pattern: even some of the world’s most trusted brands — including Shell, Microsoft, Starbucks, and Verizon — had their ads served alongside explicit content on XShorts, a fleetingly popular Android app that at one point outranked Disney+ in downloads.

The cause?

Unchecked campaign settings in a fragmented, fast-evolving media ecosystem. As Neal Thurman, Co-Founder of the Brand Safety Institute, aptly noted:

“There are so many things to keep on top of as new properties arise... marketers and agencies have to manage many settings to make sure campaigns only run in brandsafe environments.”

At Adfidence, we believe that protecting brand equity starts with strong campaign setup governance. By equipping marketing teams with the tools to track, audit, and correct campaign settings in real time, we help advertisers reduce exposure to risk — and stay in control, even as the digital landscape shifts beneath their feet.