Question 1

What does Filament do?

Accepted Answer

Filament makes advertising on YouTube safe and more effective by replacing low-quality impressions with highly contextual, human-vetted inventory.

Question 2

How does Filament ensure brand safety?

Accepted Answer

Every YouTube channel undergoes manual expert review and classification. We offer a Brand Safe Guarantee with human verification of all placements, not just AI flagging.

Question 3

What kind of results can I expect?

Accepted Answer

Campaigns typically perform 3–5x better through media efficiency. We remove 20–60% of wasted spend and improve metrics across the entire funnel.

Question 4

How is contextual targeting different from audience targeting?

Accepted Answer

Contextual targeting places your ads alongside relevant content your audience is already engaging with, no personal data required. It improves attention, brand safety, and performance across the funnel.

Question 5

How does pricing work?

Accepted Answer

Filament offers self-service and managed service options with transparent CPM pricing. Fixed-rate and dynamic pricing are available, with optional planning support.

Question 6

Do I need to connect my Google Ads account?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Connecting via API access enables easy activation, consistent daily updates to your blocklists, and comprehensive placement reporting.

Question 7

What if I have a small budget?

Accepted Answer

For budgets under $3k/month, we recommend using audience targeting with a Safe List, or focusing exclusively on relevant content topics. Start by allocating 15–25% of your YouTube budget to contextual placements.

Question 8

What is Raditube?

Accepted Answer

Raditube is Filament's non-profit arm that identifies and classifies harmful content like hate speech on YouTube, collaborating with researchers to improve content categorization at scale.

Question 9

My campaigns are performing fine. Do I really need this?

Accepted Answer

Most advertisers don't realize how much budget is going to low-value placements until they see the data. Even well-performing campaigns typically have 20-50% of spend going to channels that add no value. Removing that waste doesn't reduce performance. It sharpens it.

Question 10

Doesn't YouTube handle placement quality automatically?

Accepted Answer

YouTube optimizes for scale and delivery, not placement quality. Brand safety categories are broad and miss the nuance. Things like AI-generated content, background music channels, and off-market foreign content slip through easily.

Question 11

How is this different from uploading an exclusion list once?

Accepted Answer

A static list is a snapshot. YouTube's content ecosystem changes daily. New channels enter the auction, existing channels change content, and your campaign's placement mix shifts constantly. A one-time upload becomes outdated within days.

Question 12

Will removing placements hurt my reach or delivery?

Accepted Answer

No. YouTube has millions of channels in its auction. Removing low-value placements redirects your budget toward higher-quality inventory, which typically improves both performance metrics and delivery efficiency.

Question 13

Does this touch anything in my campaigns other than exclusions?

Accepted Answer

No. We only manage placement exclusions. We don't modify targeting, bids, budgets, creatives, or any other campaign settings. Your campaigns stay exactly as you set them up.

Question 14

How do you decide what to exclude?

Accepted Answer

Every channel is evaluated against our human-verified database covering 98% of YouTube views. We assess brand safety, content type, language, audience relevance, and contextual fit. Only channels that clearly fall outside your campaign's goals are excluded.

Question 15

Can I customize what gets excluded for my brand?

Accepted Answer

Yes. While our default exclusion criteria covers the five main waste categories, you can adjust thresholds and add custom rules based on your brand's specific requirements and risk tolerance.

Question 16

Does this work for awareness campaigns, not just conversions?

Accepted Answer

Absolutely. Awareness campaigns benefit even more from clean placements because every impression matters. Removing low-quality channels means your brand is seen in better contexts, improving both recall and sentiment.

Question 17

How quickly will I see a difference?

Accepted Answer

Exclusions start applying within the first 24 hours. Most advertisers see measurable improvements in placement quality within the first week, and clearer performance data within 2-3 weeks.

Frequently Asked Questions

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About the Daily Exclusion List

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