In just three months, more than 250 Canadian and international companies – including banks, post-secondary institutions, car manufacturers and major retailers – have confirmed they will pull their ads from Rebel Media, according to an online group that targets far-right websites.

An anonymous spokesperson for Sleeping Giants Canada told iPolitics Wednesday the group has seen an uptick in the number of companies agreeing to block their online ads from appearing on the ultra-conservative media outlet since Saturday – when Rebel commentator Faith Goldy appeared to sympathize with white supremacists at a protest in Charlottesville, Va. that turned deadly.

“There for sure has been an increase in the number of companies since the weekend,” the spokesperson wrote in a private Twitter message.

The Rebel, headed by former Sun News Network host and self-described provocateur Ezra Levant, has taken a lot of heat over Goldy’s coverage of the protests – forcing Levant to issue a staff memo Monday asserting that the outlet and the people behind it “are not alt-right” and have nothing to do with that movement.

Three regular Rebel freelancers have also cut ties with the outlet this week, citing their discomfort with the site’s current direction and the work of some of its staff. Rebel Media’s co-founder Brian Lilley issued a statement Monday night in which he announced his departure and questioned the outlet’s presence “at a so-called ‘unite the right’ rally that was really an anti-Semitic white power rally.” John Robson and Barbara Kay announced Tuesday they would no longer contribute content to The Rebel.

Levant did not respond to requests for comment.

The Sleeping Giants Canada Twitter account has been active since February 2017 and started out by tweeting screenshots at companies whose ads appear on the notorious far-right U.S. website Breitbart.com. In May, the group also began tweeting at companies whose ads appear on The Rebel, asking them to “please consider” blocking Rebel Media from their ad buys.

The list of entities that Sleeping Giants Canada says have confirmed they will no longer advertise on the Rebel’s site include: the Hudson’s Bay Company; Porter Airlines; TD Canada; 7-11; the Salvation Army; Roots; and the Canadian affiliates of automobile giants General Motors, Harley-Davidson, Cadillac, Dodge and Kia. The Royal Canadian Mint (a Crown corporation) and the Government of Alberta – as well as a handful of media outlets and a number of universities and colleges – have also spiked their ads, according to a running spreadsheet the group updates periodically.

Volkswagen Canada, Michael Hill Jewellers, Penguin Books and outdoor gear supplier MEC are among the companies Sleeping Giants Canada recently identified on Twitter as having confirmed they would no longer advertise on Rebel Media.

Asked in late June whether Sleeping Giant Canada’s social media campaign has hurt the Rebel financially, Levant told iPolitics that online ads “have never been an important part” of the website’s business model. He added he cares more about his subscription metrics, which he claimed “continue to grow at between 5 per cent and 8 per cent per month.”

Sleeping Giants Canada has insisted that they are not pressuring or targeting corporations and institutions with their tweets. In past Twitter exchanges with iPolitics, a spokesperson has said the group recognizes that lots of online ad buying is automated and many companies aren’t necessarily aware of where all their ads are showing up. Companies that use third parties for their ad buys, however, can ask to opt out of certain ad placements – which is what Sleeping Giants points out in their tweets.

“We just let the companies know about the ads,” the spokesperson wrote Tuesday. “Some big companies get reminded ads are still showing up, but we are not and have never suggested boycotting these companies because of where their ads are showing up.”

In addition to the approximate 250 confirmations, the Sleeping Giants spokesperson said there are “definitely” more companies that have “quietly” pulled their ads from The Rebel — but they have “no idea” how many.

There are also some companies who don’t acknowledge the group’s tweets. The spokesperson said the group has tweeted repeatedly at big banks RBC and Scotiabank, as well as Honda Canada, whose ads continue to show up on The Rebel and who have yet to respond.

Asked whether the group has any other objectives for the future, the spokesperson said the group plans to continue on as they are now.

“We have our hands full with what we are currently doing,” the spokesperson wrote.

The inaugural Sleeping Giants account – devoted primarily to cutting off ad dollars from Breitbart – has been active since November 2016. Its efforts have snowballed into a growing social media movement, with a number of affiliated Sleeping Giants accounts also cropping up in countries like Germany, France and Finland. The Sleeping Giants accounts regularly retweet Twitter users who follow their lead and tweet at companies as well.