Clicking the AdChoices info button on ads in XShorts reveals that many were served through popular ad servers including Epsilon, Facebook Audience Network, Amazon, AppLovin, Basis, inMobi, and Moloco.
In one period of use, the app displayed full-screen ads for the news outlet Puck, American Eagle Outfitters-owned Todd Snyder, and the clothing brand &SONS Trading Co—all of which were served via Meta’s ad server Facebook Audience Network, according to the AdChoices informational button.
Meanwhile, banner ads for many of the biggest brands—such as Verizon and Jeep—transacted through Epsilon.
A Roblox spokesperson said in a statement: “We have strict brand safety guidelines for our ads and have reached out to our ad suppliers to ensure our guidelines are continuously enforced, including immediately blocking this particular app.”
After being contacted by ADWEEK, Puck introduced new exclusions for this app’s keywords and other platforms. A spokesperson for the outlet said via email: “We’re looking into this further. Brand and platform safety are vital to Puck.”
A spokesperson for Todd Snyder said in a statement that the brand “does not advertise on adult-themed websites or platforms,” and noted that “the team is evaluating how any of its advertisements may have been inadvertently displayed.”
&SONS CMO James Cowdale told ADWEEK in an email that the brand’s ads were served on the platform as a result of automated settings in Facebook Audience Network. He said: “These settings—common in Advantage+ campaigns and also in Google’s Performance Max—distribute ads across a wide pool of third-party websites and apps to optimize performance. Unfortunately, these systems often offer limited transparency and make it difficult to proactively exclude certain categories or placements.”
He added that the brand has “spent thousands with these platforms and were unaware that our ads could appear on sites like XShorts.”
The &SONS team and its agency partners have implemented more stringent controls since being contacted by ADWEEK, but Cowdale called out transparency issues within Meta’s interface, noting “even locating these exclusions within Meta’s interface was not straightforward.”
