We all assume the worst when we see ads being misplaced or unfortunately placed online. However, the extent of the damage caused is worse than you think. If you want to check out some great examples of not very great ad placement online, check out The Barbers recent Over the Hump … posts which looks at poor ad placement.

According to a recent survey by iCD Research misplacement of ads on inappropriate websites is tarnishing brands’ reputation.

The independent study of 1000 web users in the UK found that 78 percent would think less of a brand if it allowed an ad to appear next to offensive or inappropriate content, while 62 percent thought they had seen an ad in an inappropriate place.

It is apparently an increasingly contentious issue in recent months, with trade body the Internet Advertising Sales Houses launching an investigation after it found ads from brands such as Orange and Virgin Media had been found on barred websites in the US. Despite moves to prevent misplacement, 52 percent of people who took part in iCDs survey believe the problem will get worse.

The survey reported that according to web users, violent content was considered the most damaging for a brand to appear next to, followed by drugs reference and adult content, while Coca-Cola was thought to be the brand with the most to lose from any association with dodgy websites, followed by Cadbury, Lego and Tesco.

The survey also discovered that 40 percent of consumers consider advertisers to blame for allowing their ads to be misplaced, rather than the website or the ad agency. I can already hear UK advertising arms being raised in protest!