Greg Brooks
Background
There
have been multiple reported brand safety issues relating to advertising
adjacencies on Google / YouTube and other sites.
In short, brands have found their advertisements connected with hate speech and
offensive content that they would wish to avoid being associated with their
brands. Worse, due to model operated by YouTube and other sites, these ads are
financially supporting the organisations creating the offensive content. These
issues are currently reported as related to advertising through Google’s UK
operations.
Details
and Implications
YouTube is un-curated. It deploys brand safety
technology but it is not infallible. While brand adjacencies to bad content are
minimal, however horrible, an additional immediate issue in respect of brand
reputation is the featuring of these instances in media with far wider reach
than the concerning adjacency itself. The recent issues have been covered
widely by The Times, The Guardian, BBC, Sky, The Financial
Times, The Independent, The Sun, Wall Street Journal
and many more national, international and trade publications in the UK and
beyond.
In response to this issue, many advertisers have
chosen to withdraw or pause their investments in Google and YouTube until there
is more clarity over the situation. GroupM is not currently advising the
withdrawal of advertising from Google / YouTube, but has been vocal, along with
WPP, in pushing for more responsibility over the issue from the major digital
platforms.
Sir Martin Sorrell has spoken widely about the need for
more responsibility to be taken by the major digital platforms:
"I think the most constructive way of doing it is getting Google
and Facebook to understand the problem, which I think they do, and to get them
to step up to control it just like any other media right now would in a
traditional sense,” he told CNBC.
Matt Brittin, Google’s head of Europe, the Middle
East and Africa, apologised to the assembled audience (and those
watching online) at Advertising Week Europe in London. Watch
the Ad Week Europe session here.
Today
(March 21st 2017), Google’s Chief Business Officer Philip Schindler
announced in a blog post (https://blog.google/topics/ads/expanded-safeguards-for-advertisers/)
Google’s intention to tighten controls and improve systems. We will update our
guidance to clients as soon as details are known.
Summary
Digital advertising on platforms where content is
user-generated and not curated has inherent brand safety risks. GroupM
vigorously pursues every brand safety precaution and technology available to
mitigate these risks, and we encourage all clients to make use of these tools.
At the highest levels, we have communicated with
Google, Facebook, Snapchat and other partners to encourage their development of
solutions. However, a 100% foolproof system may not be possible. It’s important
that brands know this and proceed with caution – as well as with available
safety tools.
