ds pause X ad spend after ads with pro-Nazi contents //
On X (formerly Twitter), ads from at least 19 different brands were displayed alongside a pro Hitler account. Two of these brands have suspended their advertising on X. X deleted the account.
Why do we care? X CEO Linda Yaccarino said to CNBC last week that “brands are protected from the risk of appearing next to” potentially harmful content, and that “your ads will air only next to content which is appropriate for you.” This is clearly not the case. X’s platform may claim to be committed to Brand Safety but there is still work to be done.
What happened? Media Matters for America released this report describing how X was placing ads for brands in a verified pro Adolf Hitler Twitter account that has thousands of followers. The nonprofit group included screenshots of the promoted posts.
- Media Matters reported that “the company continues to monetize an account with openly antisemitic content despite acknowledging that it violated the platform’s rules against violent speech.”
Unsafe Brands. Ads for the following brands appeared alongside the profascist material:
- Action Network
- Adobe
- Amazon
- Atlanta Falcons
- BritBox
- Hormel Foods Corn Nuts
- FIFA Women’s World Cup
- Fortune
- Gallup
- Gilead Sciences
- MLB
- NCTA-The Internet and Television Association
- Office Depot
- The following are examples of a Regal
- Samsung
- Sports Illustrated
- The Athletic / The New York Times Co.
- The Herd with Colin Cowherd/Fox Sports
- USA Today
X has lost more brands. NCTA and Gilead “immediately paused [their] ad spend on X,” CNN said. NCTA’s spokesperson said that the company had “opted in to X’s measures for brand safety, including keyword restrictions and limiting ad placements to the ‘homefeed of target audiences. ‘”
- We are very concerned about our article on the future of broadband technologies appearing next to such disturbing content.
- “Brand Safety will remain a top priority for NCTA. This means that NCTA will suspend advertising on Twitter/X in the near future, and severely limit NCTA’s natural presence on the platform.”
The post Ads with pro-Nazi Content cause Brands to pause X ad Spending first appeared on Search Engine Land.