A lot of prominent advertisers pulled out their investments online with Google due to the risk of having their commercials appear beside inappropriate content.
The boycott came after Google was accused of displaying the ads on some terror sites. Extremist videos were also found on YouTube alongside the client advertisements. In fact, the British government already summoned the executives from the tech giant to explain the incidents.
Google admits mistake
The Guardian CEO, David Pemsel, wrote a letter to Google saying that several brands feel they have to advertise with the tech giant because of its "dominant position" in the market. He also noted that the same thing is true with YouTube and DoubleClick. Thus, these three companies should "uphold the highest standards" in terms of openness and transparency.
Also, "measures to avoid advertising fraud and misplacement in the future" must be taken into serious consideration. "It is very clear that this is not the case at the moment," Pemsel stressed.
On the other hand, Google UK senior executive Ronan Harris admitted in a blog post that their firm needs to "do a better job." With millions of sites and at least 400 hours of videos uploaded every minute, "[they] recognize that [they] do not always get it right." Nevertheless, Harris assured that future client commercials would not be published with content related to extremism.
Firms that ditched Google
According to Independent, three large British banks now join the growing list of advertisers that dropped Google. These firms are the HSBC, Lloyds, and the Royal Bank of Scotland. Accordingly, they just followed the moves of multinational companies like L'Oreal, Audi, and McDonald's, O2, Royal Mail, Havas, and Marks & Spencer.
Meanwhile, media organizations such as the BBC and Channel 4 also withdrew their Google ads investments. Sky, Barclay, and Vodafone are reportedly considering cancellation of their online campaign with the tech mogul too. Unless, of course, if it resolves the problem immediately.
For the record, Google handles about 35 percent of all online advertising. Alarmingly, it would be catastrophic if the boycott worsens. Well, the ads were earlier shown with videos from David Burke, the former leader of the infamous Klu Klux Klan, and even ISIS.
Other racist groups, rape apologists, and holocaust deniers are allegedly receiving payouts from Google for YouTube commercials too. To illustrate, one ad earns £6 for every 1,000 views. This only means that the firm has been unintentionally funneling cash to terrorists.
