The Association of National Advertisers has apparently taken its Hippocratic oath. In an advisory message referencing Google’s YouTube, ANA CEO Bob Liodice stated that the first goal for any platforms used by brands must be to “do no harm.” The ANA’s message, which was sent out to its members on Friday, comes after a slew of advertisers, including Verizon and AT&T, suspended ads from the video service for fear of seeing them placed alongside extremist content. “All agency and media partners should recognize that — above all other objectives — protecting the brand should stand head and shoulders above everything else,” Liodice told ANA members in his statement.
And unfortunately for Google, it doesn’t stop with Verizon and AT&T. According to a new report from the Wall Street Journal, yet more major advertisers are set to start pulling ads. Walmart, Dish Network, and PepsiCo are reportedly preparing to pull ads from all Google platforms, with the exception of paid search. Starbucks will reportedly pull ads as well, but only from YouTube. The problem: Even after announcing steps to curtail instances of ads appearing alongside extremist content, Google’s automated system has failed to stamp the problem out, at least for now. Per the Journal’s testing, ads for companies like Microsoft and Coca-Cola appeared on five anti-Semitic and racist YouTube videos. Google still insists that it’s addressing the problem. “We’ve begun an extensive review of our advertising policies and have made a public commitment to put in place changes that give brands more control over where their ads appear,” the company told Gizmodo.