YouTube may be an unstoppable ad behemoth, but the company just lost a fairly well-known ad client: The British government. The U.K. has suspended ads from running on the Google-owned video platform, citing concerns that its spots have been running alongside content from extremists and hate groups. (The U.K.’s BBC, The Guardian, and Channel 4 have pulled ads for the same reason.) The U.K.’s move may not be permanent – in fact, the Cabinet Office explicitly called the move “temporary” in a statement – but the government is seeking assurances from Google that its ads will only be displayed “in a safe and appropriate way” in the future.
Not surprisingly, Google’s European division has now announced new plans to help advertisers keep their ads away from “gory or offensive content.” “We’ve begun a thorough review of our ads policies and brand controls,” the company wrote in a post, “and we will be making changes in the coming weeks to give brands more control over where their ads appear across YouTube and the Google Display Network.” For the moment, the company hasn’t offered too many details about what those changes might entail.
