TYPE A GROUP NEWSLETTER #60 MARCH 19, 2017
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GOOGLE BOYCOTT SPREADING TO U.S.
On Sunday we reported that several major advertisers in the U.K., including the British government, had pulled all display advertising from Google platforms, including YouTube and the Google Display Network, as a result of fears of having their advertising appear next to terror, hate, or pornographic content.
This is substantially related to the rise of "adtech" and "programmatic" (automated) ad buying in which advertisers have limited control over where their advertising appears.
Today, the boycott spread to the U.S. as huge advertiser AT&T announced it would similarly withdraw all its display advertising from Google properties.
At the time I stated that U.S. ad agencies wouldn't have the integrity that Havas showed by withdrawing all its clients from Google. It looks like I was right. The announcement was not made by AT&T's agencies but by the company itself.
This development has the potential to do trigger significant reactions among other advertisers worldwide.
Personally, after 10 years of ranting against the corruption, sloth, and arrogance of the online advertising industry it is gratifying to finally see some brands showing some spine and standing up to them.
