Due to the spread of disinformation online, individuals have increasing difficulties distinguishing real information from fake and determining what information can be trusted online. This problem also affects commercial content: consumers are increasingly exposed to fake advertising, which communicates a source that in fact is not the real source behind the ad. Such fake advertising negatively affects the whole advertising ecosystem: brands whose names are falsely used in the ads, making them vulnerable to reputation damage, but also publishers and media platforms, putting them at risk of economic loss, and importantly, consumers who are being manipulated and misled.

My PhD project investigates the opportunities and challenges of blockchain applications to help consumers cope with fake advertising. The project examines perspectives of private and public actors in the online advertising ecosystem on opportunities and challenges of blockchain technology for trusted advertising and collects current cases of blockchain applications. It also investigates how consumers evaluate blockchain technology applications for trusted advertising in terms of empowerment and examines effects and boundary conditions of timestamps, as a specific form of blockchain technology applied for disclosures of authenticity, on consumer trust in advertising and media.