Hey team,

WOW. Our recent BRANDED was a bombshell. We reported on what is possibly the biggest story of the year: Google has allegedly been running a multibillion-dollar scam through YouTube ads. What happens next could help us defund some of the biggest disinformation outlets in the world.

In case you missed it, here's the deal:

YouTube has been selling marketers on the idea that their ads will appear on YouTube — and sometimes on a network of “carefully-vetted” third-party websites and mobile apps called “Google Video Partners” (GVP).

But new research from ad verification firm Adalytics found that most of the ads — up to 90% of sampled ad budgets — are going to Google Video Partners. And it turns out these sites aren’t “carefully vetted” either.

They include:

Breitbart(.)com and TheBlaze(.)com, white nationalist sites

Zerohedge(.)com, which amplifies conspiracy theories

RussiaToday(.)com and Pravda(.)ru, both sites that publish Russian propaganda

Adalytics also found that Google has been charging premium YouTube rates for serving ads on sites like these and other garbage websites, where they are muted and autoplaying, crammed into the corner of the browser. Unskippable, unviewable, un-hearable ads on the worst possible websites? That’s not exactly the premium YouTube experience.

We think advertisers are owed billions of dollars in refunds — and so do they. The EU Parliament has learned through this report that their ads ran on Russian state media, and they’re livid. How much money have they been sending to RUSSIA, a country they’re currently at war with?

Now, a coalition of parliamentarians is now calling on the organization to pause its Google ad buy as they investigate. Joshua Lowcock, Global Chief Media Officer at UM, has also said he plans to look into refunds for their clients.

This is how things play out again and again: Advertisers don’t fund disinformation because they want to. It happens behind their backs, against their will. We’ve seen that advertisers will do the right thing when they have access to the information.

This is why the fight against disinformation is also the fight for transparency in the advertising industry.

Today’s action:

Adalytics, the organization behind the blockbuster Google study, is currently looking for advertisers and media buyers to participate in a follow-up study that will help strengthen the case against Google. If you know anyone who runs YouTube ads at work, forward this email to them.

You’re the best!

Nandini and Claire