Why Online Ad Bids Drop Sharply During Tragedies

Bad news may sell newspapers (what's left of them) but it doesnt sell ads online.

Advertisers have become increasingly sophisticated about what works and what doesnt when it comes to generating sales from online sources. One of the factors that has become apparent is the relationship between public crises or tragedies and the number of bids received for ad space.

Global advertisers are leery of having their brands associated with such negatively emotional events. They do not want to appear insensitive to the victims and their families, nor do they want to spend money at times when they know that potential purchasers are distracted and less likely to spend, rendering their ad budgets inefficient.

There is a growing body of data measuring the timing and productivity of ad purchases and their impacts. Computers have been programmed to ascertain the traffic generated by such events. Just as information about individual's moods is being mined to determine optimization, so too is that knowledge being extrapolated to cover entire population segments. JL

Richard Feloni reports in Business Insider:

There are sharp drops in online advertising bid activity during times of widespread negative news reporting, according to a report from Casale Media's Index Exchange.

The chart below shows the number of bids per impression plummeting on the days of the Boston Marathon bombing and the death of actor James Gandolfini:

Casale Media

Bid density for online ads drops during tragedies

When the news is bad, "big national brands go away," Andrew Casale, VP Strategy of Casale Media, told Business Insider. These companies use negative targeting to automatically determine which pages are carrying keywords they do not want their brands appearing next to.
The Boston bombing is an obvious one for the keyword bots. For situations like the death of a beloved actor, technicians can add his name and related words to the system.
So next time something bad happens, expect to see fewer ads with your headlines.