YouTube, the video hosting platform owned by Google is known in every nook and corner of the world such has been its impact. Like every modern business, it runs through advertisements. Video creators make videos, Google provides the platform and companies pay Google to put ads on those videos. There is nothing wrong with the practice, it’s the default way the world of business works today.

The scale of YouTube is such that it is constantly in the midst of one controversy or the other. From copyright issues to demonetising creators for words like f**k, YouTube has always presented itself as a platform that doesn’t allow any pornographic videos or images. I have noticed however that YouTube is not consistent with its rules. Recently I am seeing a lot of ads that are very NSFW. Look at the ads above.

Do you think these ads belong on YouTube? A platform that often claims itself to be quite family-friendly and demonetises creators for uttering sh*t in their videos? I searched those channels on YouTube to see what kind of content they post and to my surprise, they are nowhere to be found.

Aren’t ads shown based on your search history?

Yes, ads anywhere on the internet are shown based on your search history and personalisation if you have it on.

The issue here is not that YouTube is using search history to show ads, but the fact that it allowed borderline pornographic ads on the platform.

Who the hell even searches for porn on YouTube! Here is an account of a user who deleted his search history only to be shown the same ads after a couple of days.

YouTube needs to clean the mess that YouTube ads have been for a whole before it lands itself in a court somewhere.