Bunnings, Foxtel and Caltex have joined the cascading global advertiser boycott of YouTube, as Australian companies lose faith in the Google-owned video platform's ability to isolate their brands from bigoted and extremist content.
Vodafone, Nestle, Holden and Kia have also temporarily suspended all advertising from YouTube because it was appearing alongside offensive videos. It follows boycotts by a string of global companies, highlighting the poor levels of control Google has over its content and the risk posed to brands choosing to advertise on it.
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Backlash over YouTube ads
Big-name companies are suspending digital advertising on Google's YouTube site over concerns their ads run next to offensive videos.
Pay TV provider Foxtel said on Monday that it had become concerned about how Google was promoting its brand after learning of a Foxtel pre-roll video ad running on a page that publishes anti-Semitic material.
"Therefore, we have made the decision to suspend our advertising on YouTube until we are assured that the situation is resolved," a Foxtel spokesman said.
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The Foxtel ad was on a video interview with Perth man Brendon O'Connell, who in 2011 was found guilty of six counts of racial hatred. The same YouTube account has published videos including a Holocaust denial documentary called The greatest lie ever told.
Ads for Seek and Bunnings Warehouse were also appearing on the same video, prompting the Wesfarmers-owned hardware chain to suspend all YouTube ads while it works with Google to "find a solution", a spokeswoman said.
Meanwhile service station giant Caltex has suspend all digital advertising, including on platforms other than YouTube, after it became aware of a pop-up ad on a video published by Blair Cottrell, a lead figure in the far-right Australian nationalist United Patriots Front who is facing charges in Victoria for making anti-Islam videos.
Caltex would "work with our advertising agency to identify keywords that will ensure more appropriate placement for our ads", a company spokeswoman said.
Accounting software giant Xero learnt on Monday it was paying for a pre-roll ad on a video published by a September 11 conspiracy theory page, which featured alleged anti-Semitic conspiracy theorist David Icke accusing Donald Trump of being "100 per cent owned by Israel" and of handing control of the American economy to "Zionists".
Xero said it was temporarily suspending YouTube advertising after Fairfax Media alerted it to the video.
'High risk profile'
The UK government kicked off the boycott on March 17 by pulling advertising from YouTube and summoning Google executives to cabinet to explain why government ads were appearing next to extremist material.
This followed revelations in London-based paper The Times that offensive videos spouting racist, nationalist, or extremist material were carrying advertising – and receiving revenue from – UK government agencies.
Google apologised in a blog post and promised to review which videos are monetised. A few days later it offered advertisers greater control over where their ads appear, but said it will not limit what appears online.
However, this promise has not quelled concerns.
Chief executive of Omnicom Media Group , Peter Horgan, said the internet offer strong targeting and efficiency opportunities than curated platforms like television, newspapers and magazines, but this reach comes with a higher risk profile.
"It is a trade-off between the opportunities that the online world affords with the high-risk profile that goes with it," Mr Horgan said.
He added that Omnicom has checks and balances in place and is "confident that approach will catch the vast majority of offensive videos".
Google's advertising targets individuals based on demographic information collected through browsing habits. For example, young men living in Sydney or baby-boomer females who want to travel.
Google's AdWords then follows potential customers around the internet as they visit different sites. Ads only appear on sites visited by the target customer.
Advertisers can choose to ban particular sites or videos, but have to opt out by supplying a list of keywords or individual channels. The onus is on the advertiser to limit the brand damage.
500 per cent increase
The managing director of Regital in Australia, Jonny Whitehead, says he has seen a "500 per cent increase" in meeting requests for its Adparlor product in recent weeks.
Adparlor's technology allows advertisers to opt into safe videos that still target the right audience, according to Mr Whitehead, while Google's checks and balances force advertisers to opt out of specific videos or channels. This leaves them exposed to the majority of online content.
Regital charges a 30 per cent loading on top of Google's pay per view fees, but with demand for online video advertising greater than supply, there is little option for advertisers who are unwilling to risk their reputation in the online jungle.
Meanwhile, Sydney-based investment advisory firm Jevons Global is going to start shorting shares in Google's parent company, Alphabet Inc. Shares have already fallen by 4 per cent from $US872.37 to $835.14 since The Times' first article appeared.
Jevons founder, Kingsley Jones, says he estimates there is "downside in the Google stock of 10 per cent to 20 per cent at this time" and he planned to increase his short position when the US market opened on Monday evening.
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