Google has been summoned to the Cabinet Office after it emerged that government advertising was being inadvertently placed next to extremist material.

The government joined a number of organisations, including the Guardian, in pulling advertising from Google and YouTube after discovering that ads had appeared alongside inappropriate content.

Pressure mounted on Google as Isba, an organisation representing British advertisers with hundreds of members, urged the company to overhaul its practices.

A government spokeswoman said: “Digital advertising is a cost-effective way for the government to engage millions of people in vital campaigns such as military recruitment and blood donation.

“Google is responsible for ensuring the high standards applied to government advertising are adhered to and that adverts do not appear alongside inappropriate content. We have placed a temporary restriction on our YouTube advertising pending reassurances from Google that government messages can be delivered in a safe and appropriate way.

“Google has been summoned for discussions at the Cabinet Office to explain how it will deliver the high quality of service government demands on behalf of the taxpayer.”

The inappropriate content included YouTube videos of American white nationalists, a hate preacher banned in the UK and a controversial Islamist preacher. Ads for the Guardian’s membership scheme are understood to have been placed alongside a range of extremist material after an agency acting on the media group’s behalf used Google’s AdX ad exchange.

An investigation by the Times claimed that advertising from several media and retail companies including Channel 4, the BBC, Argos and L’Oréal also appeared alongside extremist content on Google and YouTube. Channel 4 reportedly said it was removing adverts from the platform, adding that it was not satisfied Google provided a “safe environment”.

Phil Smith, director general of Isba, which has some 450 members, called for changes to Google’s advertising policies.

“More needs to be done now to protect the reputation of responsible advertisers on digital platforms,” he said. “Isba urges Google immediately to review its policies and controls on the placement of advertising and to raise the bar to eliminate the risk of brands being damaged by inappropriate context.

“Whatever Google’s editorial policy, advertising should only be sold against content that is safe for brands. Isba would further encourage Google to withdraw immediately from sale any advertising inventory which it cannot guarantee as a safe environment for advertising, to restore advertiser confidence and to allow a thorough review of systems, processes and controls to take place.”

Isba suggested that Google should review placing ads immediately against newly-uploaded YouTube content before it has been classified. “Google should ensure that content is quarantined until properly categorised,” Smith said.

Dan Brooke, Channel 4’s chief marketing and communications officer, said the company was “extremely concerned” about its advertising being put alongside offensive material on YouTube.



“It is a direct contravention of assurances our media buying agency had received on our behalf from YouTube,” he added. “As we are not satisfied that YouTube is currently a safe environment, we have removed all Channel 4 advertising from the platform with immediate effect.”

The Guardian’s problem is understood to have arisen through the use of AdX, Google’s DoubleClick Ad Exchange service, which uses programmatic trading. The use of programmatic trading, which automates the process of buying and selling advertising online, is becoming increasingly controversial amid concerns that it both hurts media revenues and supports extremist material.

David Pemsel, the Guardian’s chief executive, wrote to Google to say that it was “completely unacceptable” for its advertising to be misused in this way and the media group would be withdrawing its advertising until Google could “provide guarantees that this ad misplacement via Google and YouTube will not happen in the future”.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport held a private ministerial meeting this week with news publishers and technology platforms to discuss the issue of fake news and the programmatic environment which supports it.



Google and YouTube promised to make significant changes to company policies to deal with the problem.

A Google spokesman said: “We have strict guidelines that define where Google ads should appear, and in the vast majority of cases, our policies work as intended, protecting users and advertisers from harmful or inappropriate content.

“We accept that we don’t always get it right, and that sometimes, ads appear where they should not. We’re committed to doing better, and will make changes to our policies and brand controls for advertisers.”