Admixer, a global provider of ad tech solutions, is an international company but with its roots firmly in Ukraine. Most of our employees are now in Ukraine, fighting for our country, democracy, and the European continent's future. 

Since the Russian Federation’s invasion on the 24th February, the ad tech community, brands, and marketers have been reckoning with their role. So, what impact has war in Ukraine had on the ad tech industry, and how have online platforms responded?

WFA guidance for media buyers

The World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) has issued guidance for media buyers and sellers to ensure their ad money doesn't support misinformation.

As Russia blocks access to foreign media, the rise of disinformation as a state tool has made many platforms potential battlefields.

WFA and its Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) council have unveiled a five-point plan designed to help marketers navigate digital media safety in times of war. As a key action, the WFA recommends that agencies reevaluate programmatic and indirect spending, imploring advertisers to ask publishers and social networks how they manage their inclusion and exclusion keyword lists for monetisation.

Brand safety: what are the issues?

Agencies are rethinking the blacklists they use when running ads - some have stopped campaigns from serving up alongside any war coverage. Brands don't want to appear adjacent to misinformation or  next to negative news, as  they don't want to be associated with anything anxiety-inducing. However, for publishers, especially those that support quality journalism, this means significant losses. 

Suspending ads from Russian channels

In response to criticism around monetising Russian channels in the wake of Russia's  invasion of Ukraine, platforms began to reduce access to known disinformation channels.

Meta has restricted access to two prominent Kremlin-linked sites, Russia Today (RT) and Sputnik, across the EU and UK, in addition to downgrading content from Russian state media pages. The platform has also paused ads targeting people in Russia, and advertisers within Russia can no longer create or run ads anywhere in the world. Meta also prohibits ads from Russian state media and has demonetised their accounts. 

Google (Alphabet) has blocked YouTube channels connected to RT and Sputnik across Europe. This builds on the company's indefinite pause on the monetisation of Russian state-funded media across its platforms. Even Twitter has temporarily paused advertisements in Ukraine and Russia to ensure critical public safety information is elevated and ads don't detract from it. 

Execs, agencies, and other reactions

The war between Russia and Ukraine impacts everyone and every business, as the world is connected through a global economy and the Internet.

Ad tech firm Extreme Reach has shut down its ad serving and delivery to Russian-affiliated digital and TV destinations, including RT and RT America. The company also noted that it made the largest donation in its history to the Red Cross' Ukraine Emergency Appeal.

Viber, which has been held by Rakuten since 2014, has also stopped commercial activity in both Russia and Ukraine. The messaging app, however, continues to operate and provide free global calls in both countries, so as to preserve the right to free communication.

Rakuten Group Inc. has supported the Ukrainian government, with chairman & CEO Hiroshi “Mickey” Mikitani making a personal donation of ¥1bn (£6.6m), and the company launching a Rakuten Clutch Ukraine Humanitarian Crisis Emergency Relief Fund. Rakuten Advertising has also initiated business cooperation projects with all global agencies working with European governments, to support displaced Ukrainians with information in the countries they have fled to.

Larry Kim, founder of martech platform MobileMonkey, asked advertisers and clients to boycott Russian goods and services. MobileMonkey will also terminate all relations with its clients in Russia.

The Ad Council released campaign materials encouraging people to donate to disaster and crisis relief and promoting the Ukraine Crisis Relief Fund through GlobalGiving. The work directs people to SupportCrisisRelief.org. The Ad Council Content Studio also created assets for the relief effort.

Admixer partners and ad tech players

In line with technology giants, Admixer's ad tech partners also stand for Ukraine; BidSwitch, for example, put global blockers on all Russian state-owned media outlets and sites known to be propagating misinformation. From the 14th March, it stopped monetising all supplies inside Russia.

IAB Ukraine, presided by Admixer founder & CEO Alex Boltivets, has received a lot of support from European partners, with IAB Europe suspending IAB licenses in Russia and Belarus. “We need to do whatever is within our power to end the violence in Ukraine. We encourage our member companies to do the same,” said David Cohen, chief executive officer, IAB.

IAB Polska also expressed solidarity with Ukraine, calling on all companies from the digital sector to cease cooperation with Russia. Meanwhile, IAB Slovakia, together with the Pretlak portal, has developed a website to support displaced Ukrainian citizens in finding employment in the creative industries.

In an open letter, Iponweb CEO Boris Mouzykantskii provided sincere support to Ukraine and spoke about his decision to wind down the company's operations in Russia. 

Media buying platform The Trade Desk wrote that they are more committed than ever to supporting trusted journalism and its role in preserving democracy, in addition to deterring the spread of misinformation.

Omnicom, Dentsu, Havas, Publicis, WPP, and IPG - the world's largest ad agencies and holding groups - announced they are winding down business in Russia in response to the Ukraine war. Omnicom is working with local partners to "dispose" of investment positions in the country. Dentsu will donate an additional ¥100m (£617,517) to Ukrainian relief efforts, building off a prior gift of around ¥38m (£234,656) to the Ukrainian Red Cross Society. Publicis Groupe has announced that it is stopping its business and investments in Russia by ceding the ownership of its agencies to local management, effective immediately. “Since the start of the invasion, we have been working on exiting Russia as we strongly condemn the unilateral aggression against Ukraine”, said Arthur Sadoun, CEO & chairman of Publicis Groupe.

For more information about Admixer’s services, visit admixer.com or contact Elena Podshuvejt, COO, at epodshuvejt@admixer.net.