When Google acquired YouTube in 2006 for $1.65 billion, it was considered a pricey gamble, one made with the belief that an online service known for pirated videos and vapid user-generated content could appeal to major advertisers.
The bet paid off. YouTube is now one of the pillars of Google’s advertising business and the most valuable video platform on the internet. In recent years, advertisers, unable to ignore its massive audience, flocked to YouTube to reach younger people who have started to shun traditional broadcast television.
But the technology underpinning YouTube’s advertising business has come under intense scrutiny in recent days, with AT&T, Johnson & Johnson and other deep-pocketed marketers announcing that they would pull their ads from the service. Their reason: The automated system in which ads are bought and placed online has too often resulted in brands appearing next to offensive material on YouTube such as hate speech.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/23/business/media/youtube-advertisers-offensive-content.html