Two of America's biggest telephone companies have suspended advertising on YouTube and Google wider networks in a dispute over the video and search giant's inability to guarantee their ads won't appear on extremist videos.

"We are deeply concerned that our ads may have appeared alongside YouTube content promoting terrorism and hate," AT&T said, joining Verizon, Johnson & Johnson, Enterprise, McDonald's, GSK and many other very heavy hitters.  "Until Google can ensure this won't happen again, we are removing our ads from Google's non-search platforms."

The problem was clearly visible earlier this week as journalists viewed a despicable video claiming the existence of a "Jewish World Order": When viewed in Germany, it was preceded by an ad from the insurer Axa; in France it was the oil company Total SA; Range Rover in South Africa; and so on.  None of these companies presumably wants to advertise on an idiotic, anti-Semitic video. 

"We didn't know that our ads were played in this context," said Axa spokeswoman Anja Kroll to Bloomberg Technology News.  "We have immediately arranged for an update of the filters and stopped the delivery" of the ads because "diversity, tolerance and openness are values that are of key importance for us and that we practice daily."

An Islamic extremist who claimed responsibility for a terrorist bombing in Saudi Arabia can be viewed alongside advertisements from Nissan in Sweden and wireless carrier MTN Group in South Africa.  The xenophobic Islamophobic English Defense League has ads with advertisers such as Netflix, IBM, and Tag Hauer.  These and other companies are outraged; some are boycotting, some are investigating, and some exploring their options.

The boycott began in the UK with the British Government, the BBC, and the Guardian newspaper and quickly expanded to include 250 companies.  As it moved across the ocean to the US, it gained the power to deprive Google in hundreds of millions of dollars in ad sales.  Parent company Alphabet's market value has dropped by about US$24 billion this week, the stock is down 30 points in a week, and management is awake.

Google's chief business officer Philipp Schindler apologized to advertisers for placing their ads "on content that was not aligned with their values".   He promised Google would tighten up policies, offer better controls to advertisers, and use AI to review questionable content.  Alphabet Chairman Eric Schmidt said Google could "get pretty close" to guaranteeing companies' ads won't be placed near hateful material, but won't give a 100 percent guarantee.  "I think we're going to be okay," said Schmidt.