P&G ends its YouTube advertising boycott, but with a catch

The country's biggest advertiser is only putting commercials on videos that it has reviewed.

By Mark Bergen

Bloomberg News
April 25, 2018 at 3:33AM
People wait to be escorted into a YouTube office building in San Bruno, Calif., Wednesday, April 4, 2018. A woman suspected of shooting three people at YouTube headquarters before killing herself was furious with the company because it had stopped paying her for videos she posted on the platform, her father said Tuesday, April 3, 2018. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Google has given marketers more control over where and how they run ads on YouTube and has introduced sweeping changes on oversight of content. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Procter & Gamble, the biggest advertiser in the United States, kept its ads off YouTube for more than a year because of concerns about inappropriate content. Now it's returning to the video site, but a lot more selectively than before.

The consumer-goods giant, which spent $2.75 billion on ads last year, according to Kantar Media, told its brands like Crest and Tide this week that they can buy spots on YouTube. The Cincinnati-based company stopped spending on YouTube in March 2017 following an outcry over extremist and other disturbing videos.

The boycott spread to other marquee marketers, prompting Google to overhaul YouTube policies and hire more human moderators to clean up the service.

'The right measures'

"We paused advertising, and for the past year, we've worked extensively with YouTube to improve brand safety," said Tressie Rose, a P&G spokeswoman. "We now feel the right measures are in place for P&G brands to have the option to advertise on YouTube."

Last week, CNN reported that more than 300 advertisers unknowingly ran ads on YouTube videos endorsing white supremacy, pedophilia and other extremist positions. When asked if P&G was still planning to return to the video service after the news, the company confirmed the decision.

"We appreciate the partnership with P&G and look forward to continue working with them," YouTube said in a statement.

P&G is doing things differently this time, though.

It plans to only advertise on videos the company has reviewed and approved. Those clips will come from fewer than 10,000 YouTube channels, according to P&G. The company used to market through about 3 million YouTube channels. P&G declined to comment on the amount that it is spending on the video service.

Still, winning back P&G is a coup for Google. The YouTube ad boycott cast a shadow over one of the internet giant's fastest-growing businesses. The exact financial affect has been unclear because Google doesn't report YouTube results, and the company's broader advertising business has continued to grow.

On an earnings call in February, Google Chief Executive Sundar Pichai told investors that the company was working to "respond strongly" to advertiser concerns over YouTube.

Changing the rules

Google gave marketers more control over where and how they run ads on YouTube. In January, it introduced a sweeping set of changes, including a pledge to manually review every ad in Google Preferred, a pricier collection of more popular videos. P&G remained a holdout after those changes, and is now getting even more control.

Marc Pritchard, P&G's chief brand officer, has been one of the most outspoken critics of the increasing automation of digital advertising, an industry Google dominates.

At a conference in early 2017, Pritchard denounced the sector for not adequately curbing ad fraud and measurement problems. "We don't want to waste time and money on a crappy media supply chain," he said at the time.

Marc Pritichard Proctor & Gamble Global Marketing and Brand Building Officer, speaking at the official launch of P&G in a global partnership with the IOC for the next five Olympic games from London 2012 to 2020 games. in London, Wednesday, July 28, 2010. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
P&G’s Marc Pritchard has said, “The days of giving digital a pass are over.” (The Minnesota Star Tribune)
YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, right, gestures beside Google CEO Sundar Pichai during the taping of a television program on Friday, Jan. 19, 2018, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Ben Margot) ORG XMIT: CABM102
addressing concerns: YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki and Google CEO Sundar Pichai said they are addressing concerns from content providers and advertisers. P&G’s Marc Pritchard, below, has been a critic of some digital advertising policies. “The days of giving digital a pass are over,” he has said. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)
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Mark Bergen

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