BIG HATE PARADE
Google ad cancellations could cost $1B: analyst
A growing avalanche of advertisers are boycotting Google for placing ads next to extremist and otherwise offensive content — and it could turn into a billion-dollar problem, according to one Wall Street analyst.
AT&T, Verizon and Johnson & Johnson, among the largest US advertisers, said Wednesday they were pulling their ads from a variety of Google platforms, including YouTube, until they are satisfied their brands aren’t popping up next to internet garbage.
Pharma giant GSK, the maker of Excedrin and Aquafresh and a host of other consumer health care and prescription drug brands, and Enterprise, the car rental company, also pulled ad dollars from Google.
Verizon made the move after a report in the Times of London said its ads were being displayed next to YouTube videos of a radical Egyptian cleric banned from the US. Google had disabled UK advertisers, but US advertisers continued to show up there, according to the report.
AT&T’s ads, meanwhile, were found on a Web site featuring al Qaeda operatives.
This week, Brian Wieser of Pivotal Research was the first analyst to downgrade Google because of the dustup.
The problems began last week when marketing giant Havas pulled its ads from Google’s YouTube UK following a report that British government ads played on videos featuring white supremacist David Duke and anti-Semite pastor Steve Anderson.
Google will feel the impact of the advertiser pullout on its bottom line, Wieser told The Post. Instead of discussing during the upcoming negotiations with ad-buying firms how to steal away TV dollars, the media and tech juggernaut will have to answer concerns about “brand safety issues,” Wieser said.
The impact could amount to about 1 percent of total revenue, or $1 billion, he said.
The company has apologized for the problem and has said it will revamp tools for advertisers to help correct the issues.
But “Google’s stated solution was late and woeful,” Wieser said. “Given numerous opportunities to nip it in the bud, they’ve seemingly made it worse.”
“We are deeply concerned that our ads may have appeared alongside YouTube content promoting terrorism and hate,” said a spokesperson for AT&T, which along with Verizon competes with Google for ad dollars. “Until Google can ensure this won’t happen again, we are removing our ads from Google’s non-search platforms.”
The nation’s No. 2 advertiser (behind Procter & Gamble), AT&T is spending $3.3 billion on paid advertising, according to Advertising Age. Verizon, ranked No. 5, is spending $2.5 billion.
“Once we were notified that our ads were appearing on non-sanctioned Web sites, we took immediate action to suspend this type of ad placement and launched an investigation,” Verizon said.
“We are working with all of our digital advertising partners to understand the weak links so we can prevent this from happening in the future,” Verizon said.
Verizon acquired both Yahoo and AOL in order to compete with Google for ad dollars.