PepsiCo, Walmart, Starbucks pull ads from YouTube

An advertising boycott of YouTube is broadening, a sign that big-spending companies doubt Google’s ability to prevent marketing campaigns from appearing alongside repugnant videos.

PepsiCo, Wal-Mart Stores and Starbucks on Friday confirmed that they have suspended their advertising on YouTube after the Wall Street Journal found Google’s automated programs placed their brands on videos containing racist content.

AT&T, Verizon, Johnson & Johnson and Volkswagen pulled ads earlier this week.

The defections are continuing even after Google apologized for tainting brands and outlined steps to ensure ads don’t appear alongside unsavory videos.

Google depends on automated programs to place ads in YouTube videos because the job is too much for humans — about 400 hours of video is now posted on YouTube each minute.