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By Jack Nicas 

Google announced initial steps to strengthen its ad policies and enforcement in response to an advertiser backlash over the tech giant frequently displaying ads next to inappropriate content such as fabricated news stories or terrorist videos.

Google, a unit of Alphabet Inc., said in a blog post Tuesday that it would pull more advertising from controversial content, give advertisers more control and visibility over where their ads appear, and employ more people and technology to enforce its ad policies.

"We know advertisers don't want their ads next to content that doesn't align with their values," Google Chief Business Officer Philipp Schindler said in the post. "So starting today, we're taking a tougher stance on hateful, offensive and derogatory content."

Many major advertisers are angry with Google, and some have even reduced spending with the company, after a series of news reports revealed Google regularly served their ads on controversial websites or YouTube videos, including some made by supporters of terrorist groups such as Islamic State and a violent pro-Nazi group.

Google serves ads on more than 2 million websites and millions more YouTube videos that are created by outside users or companies. Google for months had pointed to its existing controls for advertisers and its ad policies that prohibit certain types of content as guards against ads appearing on controversial sites and videos.

But a wave of pressure from advertisers and government officials in the U.K. last week forced the company to make changes. Google said on Friday and again on Monday that it planned changes, and on Tuesday Mr. Schindler, the most senior Google executive to publicly address the issue, laid out its initial plans.

As part of the planned changes, Google said it would remove more ads "from content that is attacking or harassing people based on their race, religion, gender or similar categories." The company said it would only place ads on the YouTube videos of "legitimate creators" and pull ads from the videos of those who "impersonate other channels or violate our community guidelines." Google also is reviewing its policies to determine whether more YouTube videos should be removed entirely from the site.

Google is changing the default settings for ads to limit them to more mainstream sites and videos, requiring brands to opt in to advertising on broader -- and sometimes edgier -- types of content such as such as videos peddling extremist views, conspiracy theories or misinformation. Google said it would simplify how advertisers control where their ads appear, including giving advertisers the ability to blacklist specific sites or YouTube videos.

Google said it would give advertisers more transparency on where their ads appear, though Mr. Schindler's post only specifically mentioned the expansion to all advertisers of an existing tool that tells brands every YouTube video on which their ads ran. Google said it also plans to hire "significant numbers" of people and develop new technology "to increase our capacity to review questionable content." And the company plans to make it easier for advertisers to flag issues, with the goal of resolving problem cases "in less than a few hours."

Write to Jack Nicas at jack.nicas@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 21, 2017 10:55 ET (14:55 GMT)

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