Taxpayers funded extremists through online advertising

Under fire: Google has been summoned by the government to explain inappropriate ad placements
Kristoffer Tripplaar / Alamy
Jessica Morgan17 March 2017

The Government has suspended advertising on YouTube after claims ads were being aired before videos uploaded by extremist groups and hate preachers.

The Cabinet Office announced that it had placed temporary restrictions on the video site “pending reassurances from Google that Government messages can be delivered in a safe and appropriate way”.

Rape apologists, anti-Semites and hate preachers had received payouts from publicly funded Google ad campaigns, according to an investigation by the Times.

Adverts for big names including Mercedes-Benz, Waitrose and Marie Curie were featured before videos uploaded by ISIS supporters and other terrorist sympathisers, the investigation found.

The Guardian newspaper pulled all its online advertising from Google and YouTube as chief executive David Pemsel branded the revelation as “completely unacceptable”.

Analysis by The Times showed that blacklists which are designed to prevent digital adverts from popping up next to extremist content, are not working.

A Government spokesman said that the committee expected a “high quality of service”, and confirmed that Google had been summoned for discussions about how it would provide this.

“Google is responsible for ensuring the high standards applied to Government advertising are adhered to and that adverts do not appear alongside inappropriate content,” she said.

A spokesman for Google added: “We have strict guidelines that define where Google ads should appear, and in the vast majority of cases, our policies work as intended, protecting users and advertisers from harmful or inappropriate content.

“We accept that we don’t always get it right, and that sometimes, ads appear where they should not,” she added.

“We’re committed to doing better, and will make changes to our policies and brand controls for advertisers.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT