Google promises improvements in brand safety controls after YouTube fiasco
Google said it will work to provide simpler, more robust ways to stop ads from showing against controversial content as a number of clients stopped advertising on YouTube following reports that their ads were showing up against questionable content
Google has been in a spot of bother over the last few days as questions are being raised about its decision making process when it comes to digital advertising with investigations revealing that a number of ads were placed alongside extremist content, including videos promoting terrorism and anti-semitism.
The British government and other prominent advertisers such as Marks & Spencers and HSBC have already pulled their advertising from YouTube. Havas also announced that it will stop ad spending for clients on Google and YouTube in the UK. These include the likes of Dominos, O2, Royal Mail, BBC and Hyundai Kia. The UK is Google’s second largest market after the US.
In response to the incident, Havas Chairman and CEO, Yannick Bolloré, tweeted that he would “investigate” the matter.
I was completely unaware of the decision of Havas UK with Google. I will investigate what happened before making an official statement
— Yannick Bolloré (@YannickBollore) March 17, 2017
Meanwhile, according to media reports, Havas has said that the decision to stop ads on Google and YouTube was temporary and would not be rolled out on a global level.
Meanwhile, Google has promised to overhaul its systems to find a solution to an incident that has once again highlighted the complexities involved in trying to moderate content on such a large scale.
In a blog post, Ronan Harris, MD at Google UK, said, “We’ve begun a thorough review of our ads policies and brand controls, and we will be making changes in the coming weeks to give brands more control over where their ads appear across YouTube and the Google Display Network. We are committed to working with publishers, advertisers and agencies to address these issues and earn their trust every day so that they can use our services both successfully and safely.”
