I have documented the issue in my own research, explaining how advertisers justify not knowing how their brand budgets are helping fund fake news.

Hint: Programmatic advertising creates a black hole that marketers are not keen to open.

doi.org/10.1080/0267...

Back in February, the BBC reported how Google and Amazon are placing ads on the most horrible content.

Did digital marketers know? Apparently, no. How is it possible?

Advertisers give money to AdTech vendors, and in return, they receive a "trust me, bro" graph.

www.bbc.com/future/artic...

A while ago, a report by Adalytics demonstrated that Adtech vendors are profiting from child sexual abuse material by placing ads there... brands were not aware.

How is it possible that brands did not know they are helping fund this horrible content? Good question.

adalytics.io/blog/adtech-...

Follow the money

"Most brands do not want to be associated with hate speech and bot farms, but they are. It is easy to look the other way in such a technically complicated market, but marketers have a responsibility. Brands become complicit by remaining silent."

theconversation.com/disinformati...

Thinkers like F.W.H. Myers and T.J. Hudson have contributed significantly to the understanding of subliminal dynamics in marketing and its engagement with atmospheres (e.g. in retailing and sales). The rational consumer archetype often treated as foundational in our subject is misleading.

Theoretically and epistemologically, meteorology has historically influenced the understanding of atmospheres. Sir John Herschel's contributions to meteorology and subliminal consciousness are noteworthy though often underappreciated.

This work examines the idea that the concept of atmospheres was not extensively considered before Kotler's work in the 1970s. It is clear that there were various sophisticated engagements with atmosphere creation in marketing, sales and advertising (among many other areas) much, much earlier.