Consumers less likely to buy goods advertised on pirate sites: report

US consumers are less likely to buy from brands that have adverts on websites that host pirated movies or TV shows, a survey suggests.

The results of the survey, which was carried out across 1,017 adults in the US, were published on Tuesday, August 13. 

It was conducted by Survey Monkey on behalf of the Trustworthy Accountability Group (TAG), which aims to fight ad-supported internet piracy, and the Brand Safety Institute (BSI), an organisation which helps brands better safeguard their businesses.

According to the survey, 53% of respondents said advertisers should prevent their ads from running near pirated content and 73% said brands should stop their ads being run on unsafe or hacked websites.

This correlated with the finding that 45% of those surveyed said they would stop buying a product that was advertised on a pirate site.

When asked who should be responsible for ensuring ads do not run alongside inappropriate or pirated content, respondents broadly (70%) assigned responsibility to the brand owner.

Mike Zaneis, the CEO of TAG and co-founder of BSI, said: “This survey drives home the real and measurable risk to a company’s bottom line from a preventable brand safety crisis.

“While reputational harm can be hard to measure, consumers said that they plan to vote with their wallets if brands fail to take the necessary steps to protect their supply chain from risks such as hate speech, malware, and piracy.”