Google vows to combat 'derogatory content' after client withdrawals

Alphabet-owned Google has promised to take action in order to stem the flow of "hateful, offensive and derogatory content" which led to the withdrawal of several high-profile advertising clients last week.

Marks and Spencer, Audi and RBS were among the companies which pulled online ads which appeared next to extremist content on Google’s Youtube site.

Google’s chief business officer Philipp Schindler said in a blog post that it would remove such content and reconfigure guidelines on which videos are allowed on to the site.

"We have strict policies that define where Google ads should appear, and in the vast majority of cases, our policies and tools work as intended. But at times we don’t get it right," Schindler wrote.

"We know that this is unacceptable to the advertisers and agencies who put their trust in us," he added. "That’s why we've been conducting an extensive review of our advertising policies and tools, and why we made a public commitment last week to put in place changes that would give brands more control over where their ads appear."

An investigation from The Times earlier this month found that various well-known firms had adverts appear alongside extremist content, leading to Google being summoned to the Cabinet Office.

Schindler pledged to take on extra employees in order to cope with the tightening of restrictions.

"We'll be hiring significant numbers of people and developing new tools powered by our latest advancements in AI and machine learning to increase our capacity to review questionable content for advertising."