THERE have been a number of articles published over the last few days linking the Google display network and extremists.

A number of high-profile brands including Audi, RBS, MandS and L’Oreal have pulled adverts from the google display network.

This is due to a recent investigation by The Times that found adverts appearing alongside content from supporters of extremist groups on YouTube’s video site.

In some instances this may have even funded extremism earning a potential £6 per 1,000 views.

At Cobb Digital we completely understand how this could cause upset and so we’ve made a stand until the issue is sorted.

We have pulled all advertising from YouTube for the foreseeable future.

On top of this we have manually checked each of our clients’ campaigns within the Google display network to ensure that they are not supporting extremism.

Google is an instrumental part of our business.

It’s a huge part of anyone’s online journey and for the most part adds value to our lives.

I have no doubt that they will sort this issue but until we’re confident that it’s been sorted we have to protect our clients.

As Ronan Harris, the managing director of Google UK, said: “With millions of sites in our network and 400 hours of video uploaded to YouTube every minute, we recognise that we don’t always get it right. In a very small percentage of cases, ads appear against content that violates our monetization policies.”

  • James Dempster is MD of Brighton-based Cobb Digital