Google boss apologises over extremist content as clients pull ads

The European boss of Google has apologised to clients and promised to improve its advertising policies after adverts for major brands were shown alongside extreme content.

Major organisations including McDonald's, L'Oreal and the Government have pulled their marketing from YouTube after it emerged that ads had run against videos containing extreme material, such as clips by former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke.

The ads, placed via programmatic systems, can earn revenue for those who post videos.

Matt Brittin, who runs Google in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said: "I would like to apologise to our partners who might have been affected by their ads appearing on controversial content. We take our responsibilities to these industry issues very seriously.

"We've made a public commitment to doing better and making improvements in three areas: raising the bar for our ads policies; simplifying advertiser controls and adding safer defaults; and increasing investment in enforcement to act faster."

However, Brittin did not answer questions at an industry conference about whether employees would actively seek out inappropriate content.

The apology comes after action from a number of brands. Department store John Lewis became the latest to suspend advertising via Google, saying it was awaiting "reassurances on the actions they are taking".

Earlier Sky called the situation "clearly unacceptable". "We are talking with Google to understand what they are doing to stop this happening," it added.