# Companies inadvertently fund online misinformation despite consumer backlash

## TL;DR

Many companies accidentally fund misinformation websites through advertising, and providing transparency could reduce this unintended support.

## Contribution

The study reveals how misinformation is financially supported by advertising and proposes interventions to reduce this funding.

## Key findings

- Advertising on misinformation websites is common across industries and amplified by digital platforms.
- Consumers backlash against companies advertising on misinformation sites, but decision-makers are often unaware.
- Increased transparency and information-based interventions can reduce the financial incentive for misinformation.

## Abstract

The financial motivation to earn advertising revenue has been widely conjectured to be pivotal for the production of online misinformation1–4. Research aimed at mitigating misinformation has so far focused on interventions at the user level5–8, with little emphasis on how the supply of misinformation can itself be countered. Here we show how online misinformation is largely financed by advertising, examine how financing misinformation affects the companies involved, and outline interventions for reducing the financing of misinformation. First, we find that advertising on websites that publish misinformation is pervasive for companies across several industries and is amplified by digital advertising platforms that algorithmically distribute advertising across the web. Using an information-provision experiment9, we find that companies that advertise on websites that publish misinformation can face substantial backlash from their consumers. To examine why misinformation continues to be monetized despite the potential backlash for the advertisers involved, we survey decision-makers at companies. We find that most decision-makers are unaware that their companies’ advertising appears on misinformation websites but have a strong preference to avoid doing so. Moreover, those who are unaware and uncertain about their company’s role in financing misinformation increase their demand for a platform-based solution to reduce monetizing misinformation when informed about how platforms amplify advertising placement on misinformation websites. We identify low-cost, scalable information-based interventions to reduce the financial incentive to misinform and counter the supply of misinformation online.

Many companies unknowingly advertise on websites that publish misinformation despite the reputational and financial risks, and increased transparency for consumers and advertisers could counter unintended ad revenue going to misinformation websites.