By Jack Nicas 

Google's commitment to better police the millions of websites and videos across its advertising network is complicated by the very scale and diversity that has made the network so attractive to marketers.

Google has built a massive advertising business in part by automatically placing brands' ads on an unparalleled group of third-party websites and YouTube videos to target specific audiences. Yet some of those ads have appeared on videos supporting terrorism, prompting brands such as AT&T Inc. and Johnson & Johnson to cancel some of their advertising on Google or its YouTube video platform.

Google says it will increase its use of technology -- in addition to thousands of reviewers -- to screen content, part of changes it announced this week to strengthen its policies and enforcement to pull ads from controversial sites and videos.

But its software can be a blunt instrument. Technology it has used in the past has allowed ads on many controversial videos, removed them from innocuous ones, and mistakenly censored other videos -- errors that could multiply as Google more aggressively polices content.

Google, a unit of Alphabet Inc., apologized Monday after the software improperly blocked some popular videos, such as a music video by pop stars Tegan and Sara, from a restricted version of YouTube designed for schools. "Our system sometimes make mistakes in understanding context and nuances when it assesses which videos to" restrict, the company said in a post about the incident.

The incident sparked an outcry among YouTube video creators who speculated Google was blocking gay and lesbian content in the restricted version of the site. Google responded that gay and lesbian content is available in the restricted version, "but videos that discuss more sensitive issues may not be."

Google added in a statement that while no system for catching inappropriate content "will be 100% perfect," measures it announced this week "will further safeguard our advertisers' brands and we are committed to being vigilant and continuing to improve over time."

Google and Facebook Inc. have been reluctant policemen of the internet, preferring to portray themselves as neutral platforms for connecting users and advertisers to content created by others. But as users spend more time and advertisers spend more money on their platforms, pressure is mounting on the tech giants to confront their gatekeeping role and decide what kind of content is permissible.

Google is mostly facing pressure to remove ads from objectionable websites and videos, which can cut off their funding, but it also examines whether controversial videos can remain on its YouTube site at all.

"The problem is thorny because not only is there such a long tail [of sites and videos], but there's so much subjectivity to what is or is not appropriate," said Adam Kleinberg, head of San Francisco ad agency Traction Corp.

For years, advertisers have increased spending with Google, which helped pioneer the automated ad-buying system, called programmatic advertising, that gives marketers the reach and accuracy to target specific audiences on far corners of the internet.

But ad and tech executives say the nature of that system make it hard to police.

"The advantage is you have access to a million publishers and a billion articles. The disadvantage is you have access to a million publishers and a billion articles," said David Rodnitzky, chief executive of ad agency 3Q Digital. "It is very challenging to truly control where an ad shows up."

Google sells ad space on more than 2 million third-party websites and millions more YouTube videos. Each day, that inventory grows by thousands of websites and nearly 600,000 hours of videos.

Google software automatically scans YouTube videos' titles, descriptions, images and dozens of other signals for signs that it shouldn't include ads, such as nudity or references to terrorist attacks. In many cases, the software can block advertising without human review.

Even enforcing its existing policies can prove challenging for Google. The company has placed ads on many sites peddling fabricated news stories, including a promotion for one of its own products -- the new Pixel smartphone -- next to a story that falsely claimed Yoko Ono had an affair with Hillary Clinton .

As Google ramps up its policing of sites and videos, it could end up upsetting website owners and video creators -- the people it relies on to produce the wide variety of content against which it can sell ads. For instance, Google's plan to expand its ad ban on any content that advocates harm to certain groups of people -- based on a specific characteristic, such as their religion, gender or race -- is likely to force Google to confront fringe sites and videos.

Separately, the new policy could also ensnare some high-profile voices. Google removed ads from several videos by YouTube's top star, Felix Kjellberg, who goes by PewDiePie, that included anti-Semitic jokes or Nazi imagery. Mr. Kjellberg said reports on those videos by The Wall Street Journal and others took his humor out of context.

But Google also faces criticism for being too strict. It recently pulled advertising for a YouTube channel called "Real Women, Real Stories" that features black-and-white videos of women telling their stories of sexual harassment and abuse. The channel's creator, Matan Uziel, said the decision cut off the project's funding.

Mr. Uziel said his appeals of Google's decision were denied. Google officials told him that it doesn't place ads on videos that discuss sexual abuse and rape, according to emails reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. After Mr. Uziel flagged similar videos that still had ads, the officials said its software system to screen such content isn't perfect.

Google officials then provided tips on tricking the system. "One recommendation is to soften the title descriptions of your videos going forward since some of the wording could be an automatic trigger for our system which is primarily text driven," an official said in one email, which was seen by the Journal. "We also recommend that you use caution when describing assault situations in your videos."

In response to a question about its interaction with Mr. Uziel, Google said that it aims to keep educational videos on YouTube, but "we do have strict advertising guidelines that prohibit ads against sensitive subjects, including abuse."

Write to Jack Nicas at jack.nicas@wsj.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 23, 2017 11:50 ET (15:50 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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