In the April 4, 2017 edition of the Wall Street Journal, Dale Weiss was quoted as an expert providing analysis on how Google is confronting its ongoing advertising crisis.
“I try and imagine the conference call between any advertisers’ digital agency and Google as they discuss how a company ad played at the beginning of a blatantly racist YouTube video. Numbers matter, but so does perception. Google posted its first blog addressing the matter on March 17…and Ronan Harris, a Google U.K. managing director, wrote about the importance of free speech, the 2 billion bad ads that were removed and a review of its ad policies and controls. However, there was no apology offered.
“In its second blog addressing the specific changes posted on March 21, Phillipp Schindler, Google’s business manager, listed new tools for advertisers to ‘better manage where their ads appear.’ During a crisis, all organizations should use every available communications channel to keep stakeholders informed.
“A Google search on April 3 of the headline from the March 21 blog–‘Expanded Safeguards For Advertisers’–revealed countless news items but only one entry from the company; its most recent single blog post. There is limited outbound communications despite the continued problem of ads running on inappropriate sites and advertisers cutting back or leaving YouTube completely.
“Perhaps Google should post a series of videos addressing the problem and discussing the new tools and how advertisers can use them on the channel where this controversy continues: YouTube.”