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IPFS News Link • Social Networking/Social Media

Murdoch Seeks to Dent Google's Ad Dominance After YouTube Revolt

• by Gerry Smith and Mark Bergen

Murdoch's News Corp. is introducing a new service to ensure online ads don't appear next to fake news or offensive videos, marking the latest salvo in the billionaire media mogul's long battle with the world's biggest search engine.

News Corp.'s Storyful unit, which filters through the firehose of social media for publishers and brands, will track websites known as purveyors of fake news or extremist content and share that list with advertisers, who can use it to keep ads from appearing in controversial places. It's pitched as a full blockade against content that's anathema to marketers, arriving as the two biggest forces in online ads -- Alphabet Inc.'s Google and Facebook Inc. -- face pressure for failing to offer such tools.

Google, in particular, has taken heat for its video offering. Several major advertisers stopped spending on YouTube last month over concern their ads could appear next to offensive videos. Google introduced controls to mitigate the problem, yet rivals are trying to exploit the issue. Storyful's new service will focus on "video brand safety," executives said.


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