Cisco pulls all online ads from YouTube

Reuters
The logo of U.S. networks giant Cisco Systems is seen at their headquarters in Issy-les-Moulineaux, near Paris, France, April 3, 2018. REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer

(Reuters) - Network gear maker Cisco Systems Inc is pulling all online ads from YouTube due to fears of the ads appearing on sensitive content on the platform, Cisco's chief marketing officer, Karen Walker, said in a blog on Wednesday.

The blog, which seemed to have been removed from Cisco's website on Thursday, said the company would not like its ads to "accidentally end up in the wrong place, such as on a streaming video with sensitive content," adding that the network gear maker will continue to use YouTube as a platform to share Cisco's video content.

Alphabet Inc's Google, which owns YouTube, said it has partnered with advertisers to make changes.

"We have partnered with advertisers to make significant changes to how we approach monetization on YouTube with stricter policies, better controls and greater transparency. We are committed to continuing this dialogue and getting this right," a Google spokesperson told Reuters.

Cisco's action follows a CNN report in April that said ads from over 300 companies, including Cisco, ran on extremist channels on YouTube.

The companies may have unknowingly helped finance some of these channels through the advertisements they paid for YouTube, according to the CNN report.

Cisco did not respond to a request seeking comment on the blog's removal from its website.

YouTube said in a report released last month that it had deleted about 5 million videos from its platform for content policy violations in last year's fourth quarter before any viewers saw them.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Leslie Adler)