Havas: French advertising giant 'pulls ad spend from Google and YouTube worth hundreds of millions every year'

Havas' clients in the UK include O2, EDF and Royal Mail

The Google logo is seen on a door at the company's office in Tel Aviv January 26, 2011 (Reuters)

French advertising group Havas has become the first major global marketing company to pull all its advertising spend from Google and YouTube, according to a report.

The Guardian reported that, Havas, which is the world’s sixth largest marketing services group, spends about £175m on digital advertising on behalf of its clients, which include O2, EDF and Royal Mail, in the UK every year.

The company reportedly made the decision after talks with Google had broken down because the technology giant had been “unable to provide specific reassurances, policy and guarantees that their video or display content is classified either quickly enough or with the correct filters”.

“We have a duty of care to our clients in the UK marketplace to position their brands in the right context where we can be assured that that environment is safe, regulated to the degree necessary and additive to their brands’ objectives,” The Guardian quotes Paul Frampton, Havas UK chief executive and country manager, as saying.

“Our position will remain until we are confident in the YouTube platform and Google Display Network’s ability to deliver the standards we and our clients expect.”

A spokesperson for Havas in London declined to speak to The Independent, and a spokesperson in France was not immediately available to comment.

The news comes after the UK Government said that it had pulled all of its advertising from YouTube after discovering some ads could be funding rape apologists, anti-Semites and hate preachers.

YouTube owner Google was summoned by ministers to explain how it had allowed taxpayer-funded adverts to be shown alongside extremist content, after an investigation by The Times uncovered the issue.

The Cabinet Office said that the restriction was temporary, “pending reassurances from Google that Government messages can be delivered in a safe and appropriate way”.