A year ago, news reports that YouTube was placing ads against violent and extremist videos led to a broad boycott, which led hundreds of advertisers to halt spending, including P&G, AT&T, Dish Network and PepsiCo. Last fall, YouTube was hit again by a backlash over ads on videos that attracted child predators.
But despite its pledges to address the “brand safety” crisis, YouTube is still delivering unpleasant surprises to Madison Avenue, according to Variety.
On Thursday, CNN reported that ad spots from 300-plus companies and government agencies ran on YouTube channels “promoting white nationalists, Nazis, pedophilia, conspiracy theories and North Korean propaganda.” The ads were for companies including Netflix, Amazon, Netflix, the New York Times Co., Adidas, Hershey and Hilton — which were unaware that their marketing messages were running against such content, per the report. Under Armour told CNN that it was suspend YouTube spending for now.
In response, YouTube reiterated that it continues to work on improving its processes for serving ads. “We have partnered with our advertisers to make significant changes to how we approach monetization on YouTube with stricter policies, better controls and greater transparency,” a rep for YouTube said in a statement.
Despite the latest revelations, P&G on Friday said it will now be advertising on YouTube after a year-long break.
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