Many online publishers use AdSense or Yahoo!'s
Publisher Network to associate adverts with keywords contained in
articles. Such systems can match articles and adverts in a way that
readers are likely to find offensive, though. For example, an
article about sexual abuse might contain words which trigger
adverts for sex-related products.
The Advertising Standards Authority has told OUT-LAW.COM that a
publisher bears responsibility for an ad's suitability regardless
of how the ad was chosen for a particular slot.
"If ads are generated automatically there should be checks in
place, people need to be responsible for the ads they show and they
need to meet the requirements of the Code," an ASA spokesman
said.
The ASA has declined to investigate an advert that appeared in
The Guardian attached to a feature about the resignation of former
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf. The advert read "Pakistan
Girls in Photos at Great Prices" and the reader complained that the
inclusion of that ad was tasteless and inappropriate.
How the ad appeared:
"The ASA can't intervene simply because the automatic search
displays a particular ad," said the ASA's response to the
complaint. "This is because our Codes can only be applied to the
content of the ad itself and not to the decision to show it."
The ASA spokesman said, though, that publishers were responsible
for ads and that if an ad was offensive, the editorial context
would play a part in the ASA's adjudication of the issue.
"The context is key – we take into account taste and decency and
do regulate the content of ads and will take the context into
account," said the spokesman. "If ads for a sex site appeared in
the context of a story on child abuse then it would be a breach of
the Code, but then some ads might be inappropriate in any context.
It is to be decided on a case by case basis."
A Google spokesman said that publishers do have control over the
adverts that appear beside a story and can stop particular adverts
appearing. He also said that Google itself carries out some work to
avoid insensitive matches.
"Google automatically uses technology to stop ads appearing
around sensitive issues, such as a plane crash," said the
spokesman. "Technology recognises sensitive topics and does not
serve ads which might seem insensitive."
Google's AdSense programme has an 'Ad Review Center', which
allows control of ads, Google said. "You can allow or block
individual ad groups and advertisers, as well as filter ads by
type: text or image," said Google's guidance on using the Ad Review
Center.
The Guardian said that a complaint sent directly to it had
received no response because it had been sent to the wrong email
address. A spokeswoman said that it made efforts to stop ads from
being published in contexts that were offensive, but that it still
received complaints.
"We began working with Google at the end of July and at the
outset we blocked obviously inappropriate advertising," said the
spokeswoman. "Since then we estimate that out of half a billion
contextual ads served each month we have had about 20 inappropriate
matches. These can arise when an advertiser mislabels their ads and
we are taking steps to deal with this."
"Both Google and the Guardian are keen to make this partnership
work. It is in no-one's interest to place inappropriate ads beside
quality content," she said.
The Guardian's head of digital content recently told its
readers' editor that: "contextualised advertising in general is a
good thing because it's not intrusive and it can be useful to
readers, but it's a blunt instrument …for news stories more fine
tuning has to be done. These ads are completely automated, and we
don't want people to think we have selected them, or specifically
approved ads to appear in a slot, if they are mismatched and
inappropriate," she said.
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