At the ripe old age of 20, Google is synonymous with internet search. The famous Silicon Valley brand long ago became a verb.
Google Chrome remains the most popular web browser, leading on most mobile and desktop devices with more than 60 percent share across both platforms. It’s four times more popular[1] than rival browsers.
In the U.S. alone, Google raked in about $34 billion in ad dollars tied to its dominant internet search business, per eMarketer[2].
With all its success and R&D spent to improve its search capabilities, it is surprising what a poor job Google and its core video offering, YouTube, do in two key areas of top importance to advertisers around the globe: search personalization and brand safety.
Just this week, YouTube once again became a shining example of what advertisers are desperately trying to fix: avoiding ad placements next to brand-inappropriate or dangerous content.
Google’s brand safety assurance is not fully baked yet
YouTube’s latest brand-safety debacle was sparked by a 20-minute video[3] that has been viewed nearly 2.5 million times since Sunday.
Blogger Matt Watson said the comments sections on some YouTube posts that featured videos of girls performing things like gymnastics and yoga were being exploited by a “soft-core pedophilia ring.”
The videos were being time-stamped with minors in compromising positions and ads from companies like Disney and Nestle were being served up next to them. Unfortunately, YouTube’s recommendation engine was collecting and serving up more similar videos with associated ads being viewed and interacted with by pedophiles.
The outrage and furor over Watson’s discovery has caused major advertisers like AT&T, Disney, Epic Games and Nestle to pull