Google rapped by Government over its ‘hate-filled’ ad’ sites

GOOGLE has been asked to explain itself after Government adverts were placed on “inappropriate and hate-filled sites”.

The technology giant has been accused of “profiting from hatred” by MPs over its YouTube advertising system that saw taxpayer-funded adverts appear alongside extremist content on the video site.

The Home Affairs Select Committee has now written to Google asking for an explanation.

The Cabinet Office said it has placed a temporary restriction on its YouTube advertising “pending reassurances from Google that Government messages can be delivered in a safe and appropriate way”, while The Guardian, Channel 4 and the BBC have also halted their advertising with the firm.

Google’s advertising network uses an automatic filtering system which places adverts on websites and videos.

In a letter to Google’s communications vice president Peter Barron, committee chairwoman Yvette Cooper said: “Government advertisements and major brands advertising is still being placed on inap- propriate and hate-filled sites.

“As a result Google and these organisations are still profiting from hatred.

“In addition to explaining to the Government and to your advertisers how this has happened and what you are doing to prevent it ever happening again, please can you provide the Committee with a full explanation of this, including whether you will be refunding money to the Government and other advertisers.”

The internet giant’s UK managing director Ronan Harris had earlier admitted the company “can and must do more” to combat what it called “bad advertising”.

“We’ve begun a thorough review of our ads policies and brand controls, and we will be making changes in the coming weeks to give brands more control over where their ads appear across YouTube and the Google Display Network.

“With millions of sites in our network and 400 hours of video uploaded to YouTube every minute, we recognise that we don’t always get it right,” he said,