AT&T Pulling Ads From Google Over 'Hate' Videos -- Update

By Jack Nicas 

AT&T Inc. said on Wednesday it is pulling much of its advertising from Google over concerns that its ads may have run alongside controversial videos, extending the financial impact of a controversy that was once just a public-relations issue for Google.

AT&T said that it is suspending all of its advertising spending on Google except for search. That means AT&T is pulling all ads from Google's YouTube site and the more than 2 million third-party websites in Google's advertising network.

"We are deeply concerned that our ads may have appeared alongside YouTube content promoting terrorism and hate," AT&T said. "Until Google can ensure this won't happen again, we are removing our ads from Google's non-search platforms."

A Google spokeswoman declined to comment directly on AT&T's move, but said, "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. We're also raising the bar for our ads policies to further safeguard our advertisers' brands."

AT&T is the largest company yet to reduce its spending on Google following reports that it placed brands' ads on YouTube videos supporting terrorism.

Other companies, including HSBC Holdings PLC, Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC, L'Oréal SA and Volkswagen AG's Audi have all reduced spending on Google advertising over the past several days in response to the controversy.

Google has apologized to marketers for any cases in which their ads appeared next to inappropriate content. On Tuesday, the company unveiled changes to its ad policies and enforcement designed to prevent such cases.

AT&T is positioning itself as a budding competitor to Google as an advertising platform, pitching its proposed merger with Time Warner Inc. as a defense against Google's growing power in the industry.

AT&T spent about $1.84 billion on U.S. advertising in 2015, excluding spending for mobile, social or online video ads, according to estimates from Kantar from late last year. AT&T ranked No. 2 on Kantar's list of the country's top spenders in 2015.

--Alexandra Bruell contributed to this article.

Write to Jack Nicas at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 22, 2017 14:54 ET (18:54 GMT)

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