Both US wireless carriers AT&T and Verizon Communications Inc have now joined a list of European companies who are also boycotting the Google-owned YouTube over concerns about some homophobic and anti-Semitic content being streamed on the website.
ATT&T said, "We are deeply concerned that our ads may have appeared alongside YouTube content promoting terrorism and hate. Until Google can ensure this won’t happen again, we are removing our ads from Google’s non-search platforms."
While Verizon Communication said it had concerns about its adverts appearing on "non-sanctioned website", adding: "Once we were notified that our ads were appearing on non-sanctioned websites, we took immediate action to suspend this type of ad placement and launched an investigation.
"We are working with all of our digital advertising partners to understand the weak links so we can prevent this from happening in the future."
Google has declined to comment on the matter, saying it doesn't discuss individual customers. However, Google said it is now reviewing advertising policies. "As announced, we’ve begun an extensive review of our advertising policies and have made a public commitment to put in place changes that give brands more control over where their ads appear," they said in statement. "We're also raising the bar for our ads policies to further safeguard our advertisers’ brands."