AT&T Joins Latest Brand Pullback From YouTube Over 'Unsafe' Content--Update

By Nat Ives 

AT&T Inc. is the latest to join a growing group of marketers halting their advertising on YouTube after it was found that the site served ads near inappropriate content again, putting pressure on the video platform to contain any new brand revolt.

"Until Google can protect our brand from offensive content of any kind, we are removing all advertising from YouTube," an AT&T spokesman said in a statement on Thursday.

AT&T's retreat is notable because it was one of the last major marketers to resume advertising on YouTube, part of Alphabet Inc.'s Google, after a number of them pulled out in 2017 over revelations that their ads there were running near offensive videos. AT&T said in January that it had taken time to be confident that similar problems wouldn't recur.

Marketers including Clorox Co., Nestlé SA, McDonald's Corp. and "Fortnite" publisher Epic Games Inc. halted their YouTube advertising on Wednesday following reports that their ads were appearing next to videos of young girls that were marred by inappropriate user comments.

"What is happening with these videos is deeply disturbing," said Clorox Chief Marketing Officer Stacey Grier in a statement. "We have paused our advertising on YouTube while Google addresses the situation.

Google executives tried to stem the damage Wednesday by arranging a conference call with marketers and ad buyers describing the steps they had taken to address the problem and promising an update within 24 hours.

On Thursday, YouTube distributed a memo that said it had suspended comments on tens of millions of videos that "are likely innocent but could be subject to predatory comments," reduced the "discoverability" of similar videos, restricted ads from millions of videos, and terminated the accounts of "bad actors," referring some of them to law enforcement and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

YouTube said other efforts in progress include working on a tool to better spot predatory comments, developing ways to help YouTube channel owners monitor comments more effectively, trying to make it harder to discover the kind of videos in question and reviewing ad buyers' controls for channels that feature minors.

"We took immediate action by deleting accounts and channels, reporting illegal activity to authorities and disabling comments on tens of millions of videos that include minors," a YouTube spokeswoman said in a statement. "There's more to be done, and we continue to work to improve and catch abuse more quickly."

A Clorox spokesman said YouTube's memo demonstrates that the company is trying to deal with a disturbing issue, but said Clorox wasn't ready to return. "While we are continuing to pause all advertising on YouTube at this moment, we are working very closely with them to determine what measures can be put in place so we can turn our advertising back on," the spokesman said.

A Nestlé spokeswoman said it would stay away until YouTube can ensure that it meets the marketer's ad standards.

Epic Games, which said Wednesday that it had asked YouTube what it would do to eliminate the inappropriate content from its service, said Thursday that it had no further comment. McDonald's said Thursday that it had no further comment on the issue.

Write to Nat Ives at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 21, 2019 16:37 ET (21:37 GMT)

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