Brandzooka blocks Newsweek from video ad platform

BOULDER — Brandzooka, a Boulder-based programmatic video advertising platform, has blocked Newsweek from the platform in the wake of allegations of advertising fraud against the website.

Newsweek has been accused of buying traffic to meet its business goals, with head of sales Ed Hannigan resigning last week as the scandal erupted.

Brandzooka announced in a press release, Feb. 8, that it was blocking Newsweek.

“Our belief in empowering the world’s best creators by connecting their content to the best publishers online has not wavered, and that is why we are so incredibly enraged,” Brandzooka said in the press release. “ You [Newsweek] lied, you cheated, and you destroyed the trust that your organization held in all of our eyes. Worse yet, your actions dragged everyone else into the mud with you. Shame on you.

“That’s why as of this morning, we have blocked Newsweek from our platform, and will no longer serve any of our 22,000 users’ ads on your site. Deceit, lying, and cheating have no place in our industry or in the modern ad world.”

“We only serve our customers’ video ads to REAL people, and will not accept traffic generated by paid-for bots. We hope that during your ‘restructuring,’ you will stamp out this dishonesty, and return to the reputable news outlet that you once were.”

Brandzooka touts itself as “the fastest-growing self-service programmatic platform in the world.” The company was co-founded in 2015 by Crispin Porter + Bogusky veteran Alex Bogusky and claims 22,000 users in 120 countries.

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