A new report says YouTube’s automated ad system is running video ads from major brands alongside content promoting the company’s controversial Project 2025 policy proposals and election misinformation.
Researchers from nonprofit consumer watchdog ECO examined ads that appeared alongside a sample of 11 videos on Google’s YouTube that espoused Project 2025 policies, conspiracy theories about the 2020 US election, and hateful rhetoric. The videos included ads for more than 60 global brands, including SKIMS, BetterHelp, Verizon and Slack. Some of the brands have public commitments around diversity, equity and inclusion that seem at odds with the messages in the videos.
Some of the videos under investigation violated YouTube’s content and monetization guidelines, which prohibit election misinformation and hate speech. The videos had nearly 1.3 million total views and were produced by channels with a combined subscriber base of more than 25 million.
“Google and YouTube have a responsibility to keep such videos out of their monetized video catalogues,” said Maen Hamad, the eco-activist who led the study. YouTube is “bigger and more powerful than many countries. It has the resources to strengthen content moderation and ensure that private entities do not have to do the work for them.”
The study highlights a long-standing concern among big advertisers that their messaging could inadvertently appear alongside controversial content and appear as promotional material. It also draws attention to the fact that big brands’ ad dollars on YouTube are being funneled, sometimes without the advertisers’ knowledge, to channels that spread misinformation and far-right rhetoric.
A YouTube spokesperson said the company reviewed the videos it investigated and found that most did not violate the company’s advertising policies. The spokesperson said YouTube removed ads from videos that violated its policies, but did not identify the channels.
“Our advertiser content guidelines do not allow ads to be placed next to content that undermines participation in or trust in elections or promotes hate speech,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “We also provide advertisers with control over where their ads appear on YouTube.”
The videos all discuss “Project 2025,” a set of conservative policy proposals created by the political think tank The Heritage Foundation, which includes further restrictions on abortion, less attention to environmental issues and a ban on transgender people in the military. The plan has been controversial even among some conservatives and was created independently of Republican candidate Donald Trump’s campaign, but involves several of his former aides and associates. Trump has tried to distance himself from the project.
In one sample video, Daily Wire host Jordan Peterson interviewed Heritage Foundation president Kevin Roberts, outlining Project 2025 and stoking anti-transgender sentiment. The video has been viewed 104,000 times and featured ads for SKIMS, Masterclass, Verizon, Gillette, and others. In another video, entrepreneur Grant Cardon hosted Arizona Republican Senate candidate Kali Lake to discuss unfounded voter fraud claims about the 2020 election. That video included ads for HelloFresh, eBay, Oracle NetSuite, and others.
Spokespeople for SKIMS, Verizon, BetterHelp and Slack did not respond to requests for comment.
It’s unclear exactly how much these YouTube channels make from advertising: YouTube pays creators 55% of ad revenue for long-form videos, and social media analytics company Social Blade estimates that the 11 channels it studied make between $1.7 million and $27 million a year.
Brands can keep their ads off controversial YouTube videos by preventing their messaging from appearing on certain channels’ videos or blocking their ads from certain video categories like politics or kids’ content. But Claire Atkin, co-founder and CEO of digital ad watchdog Check My Ads, said this is a game of whack-a-mole that doesn’t consistently protect brands.
“Google offers choice through per-channel inclusion lists, but this isn’t very efficient,” Atkin says. “There needs to be a smarter way for Google to interpret what advertisers want.”
In some cases, brands only find out their ads are appearing next to controversial videos after a nonprofit like Eko reports them. The Global Alliance for Responsible Media is another industry watchdog group that created tools to help advertisers stop their ads from appearing next to harmful or illegal content. The group was dissolved earlier this month following an antitrust lawsuit by Elon Musk’s social network X, formerly known as Twitter.
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