YouTube is trying to flip its brand safety mess into an opportunity

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YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki said that there's no "playbook" for dealing with bad actors on an open platform like its own.
But it seems as though Google Preferred, which lets advertisers buy ads against the platform's top-performing videos, comes pretty close as a solution to the challenge.
Google Preferred was front and center at YouTube's annual Brandcast NewFronts presentation Thursday evening.
Google Preferred costs more, sometimes two or three times as much according to ad buyers. So that's a steady stream of ad dollars flowing in to YouTube's coffers if advertisers buy into it.

"There isn’t a playbook for how open platforms operate at our scale," YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki said at YouTube's annual Brandcast NewFronts presentation Thursday evening, referring to the platform's spate of brand safety snafus over the past year.

"But the way I think about it, is it’s critical that we are on the right side of history."

Surprise, surprise: YouTube seems to think that Google Preferred, a premium service that costs two to three times more than Google's self-serve tools, is the closest it can get to being on the right side of history.

The program, which lets advertisers buy ads against the platform's top-performing videos, was front and center at YouTube's presentation held at Radio City Music Hall Thursday evening.

Wojcicki took the stage and announced that the company was doubling down on Google Preferred, expanding it to let advertisers buy ads on not only its top-performing videos, but also cable TV shows, live events and music videos.

"They are certainly positioning Google Preferred as the solution to brand safety on their platform," said Noah Mallin, head of experience, content and sponsorships at Wavemaker. "Brand safety has been a theme common to most companies' NewFront presentations, and it's Google's way of saying we’re there too."

YouTube also announced that it was opening YouTube TV to Google Preferred, so advertisers can buy against TV channels on the monthly subscription service using Google AdWords and DoubleClick Bid Manager.

"Starting next broadcast season, you will be able to advertise against cable TV shows alongside the best of YouTube through Google Preferred," Wojcicki said.

The Google Preferred inventory is also being expanded to include music videos from partners like Universal, Sony and Vevo as well as live music events. Plus, advertisers will now be able to tap into enhanced affinity signals from the broader Google ecosystem for Google Preferred, taking cues from the kind of searches people do or the kind of places and apps they like.

Wojcicki reiterated the investments YouTube had made to quell the brand safety crisis, including human moderators, content flagging and increased monetization thresholds for creators.

"We instituted human reviews on Google Preferred, so you can all trust that every video your ad runs on has been verified to meet advertiser-friendly guidelines," she said.

That should theoretically boost advertiser confidence and make them feel a lot safer buying ads on YouTube compared with buying ads programmatically through Google's self-serve tools, a point which YouTube seemed to drive home by bringing Deanie Elsner, president of Kelloggs' US snacks division, on stage

"Since 2015 we’ve increased our spend on YouTube each year, including a 300% increase last year alone," Elsner said, speaking of increasing investment on the platform when it was at its weakest in terms of advertiser trust.

Touting Preferred is also YouTube's way of saying it can compete with Facebook, Snapchat and Twitter, all of whom have been making significant investments in premium content recently, said Mallin.

"For YouTube, they are watching Facebook, Snap and Twitter all investing to bring content to their platforms, but they’re the ones who had the real headstart," he said. "In the long term, they can’t afford to let that headstart slip away, so Preferred is a way to not just pitch brand safety but also tout their premium content."

Of course, Google Preferred costs more — sometimes two or three times as much according to ad buyers, as Business Insider reported earlier. So that's a steady stream of ad dollars flowing in through YouTube's coffers if advertisers buy into it, while the company fixes the algorithmic side.

YouTube and Wojcicki also took the opportunity to remind advertisers about the platform's massive and unparalleled reach and scale, highlighting how YouTube had more than 1.8 billion monthly logged-in users. Not that advertisers need much of a reminder, with several big names like P&G and Ford already back on the platform.

"Many of our clients are already on board with Preferred and understand that there's a premium to pay to be safe," said Mallin.

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