Google has been under pressure in the past couple of weeks amid criticism from a number of UK-based advertisers that it does not guarantee ad safety. According to numerous media outlets, the UK government joined a number of leading brands, including Marks & Spencer, Toyota, McDonalds, L'Oréal, HSBC, Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland, to pull or freeze advertising from YouTube after an investigation by UK newspaper The Times revealed that their ads were being run adjacent to extremist content. Last week Johnson & Johnson, Verizon and AT&T also suspended their YouTube advertising globally, joining a growing number of companies and brands that fear their ads will appear in close proximity to undersirable content such as hate speech and terrorist propoganda, according to news service Ad Age. Google relies on its users to report dodgy content, which critics argue is not sufficient. According to The Times, many brands said they had no idea their ads were being placed alongside content t...
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