Paul Frampton Calero (CEO & UK Country Manager, Havas Media Group) has made clear through his personal Twitter profile that Havas UK has just paused activity in You Tube and Google Display Network (Adwords). He also underscores that they “are working closely with Google to find a solution before un-pausing ad spend”.
Following some incidents of missplacement of the advertising of some Havas’ UK clients, Frampton explained yesterday to The Guardian the reasons why Havas had decided to stop insertions: “We have a duty of care to our clients in the UK marketplace to position their brands in the right context where we can be assured that that environment is safe, regulated to the degree necessary and additive to their brands’ objectives”.
To be clear, @Havas_MGUK has 'paused' only YT & GDN activity & is working closely with Google to find a solution before un-pausing ad spend.
— Paul Frampton-Calero (@Paul_Framp) March 17, 2017
And as reported by The Guardian, he added: “Our position will remain until we are confident in the You Tube platform and Google Display Network’s ability to deliver the standards we and our clients expect”.
Havas Media UK roster of clients include such big advertisers as Dominos, Emirates and the BBC. The media agency ad spend in the UK amounts circa 500 m pounds a year.
@Havas_MGUK has made decision to protect brands it represents in absence of reassurance or change of policy from YT https://t.co/PVIGN76Esf pic.twitter.com/XBeIo4d7UG
— Paul Frampton-Calero (@Paul_Framp) March 17, 2017
The decission taken by Havas Media adds to that already taken by The Guardian itself. The newspaper stopped insertions from Google and You Tube because their ads were placed next to extremist content including: videos of American white nationalists, a hate preacher banned in the UK and a controversial Islamist preacher
The Guardian, first to blacklist Google properties, but there are more
David Pemsel (CE of The Guardian) was reported on The Guardian itself to have written a letter to Google complaining by the misuse of the ads.
It seems that the missplacement issue is related to insertions programmatically traded through Adx, Google’s DoubleClick Ad Exchange Service.
Pemsel urged other brands to stop insertions in Google owned companies till The tech giant provides “guarantees that advertising placed on YouTube will not sit next to extremist content in the future”
Today Google and Facebook receive over the 80% of the whole digital ad investment, following the figures quoted by The Guardian.
Besides Havas’ clients some brands like L’Oreal and the same UK Government have stopped insertions on Google and You Tube.
Image over the headline.- © Google.
