Last week six major companies withdrew their advertising spend from Facebook. Their concern was the occurrence of their branding on the Facebook pages belonging to the British National Party. According to the BBC News website the BNP responded by questioning any need to avoid their party. While it is easy to see why responsible companies would indeed want to shun association with a political machine mired in racism, it is harder to see how companies can still be surprised by the connections that are brought about by the internet.

Online advertising is pretty new, even if we place its inception with pioneers like HotWired selling fourteen banner spaces in 1994. That gives a history of only a little over a dozen years. In that time, there have been plenty of fears. From early concerns over territorial rights and the implications of reaching a global market (which symbiotically reinforced early government attempts to facilitate business growth on the information superhighway), to the massive and largely self fuelling investments in establishing presence (ideally as first mover) in those heady dot com days, to the realization that Doubleclick’s cookies could tell a sordid story of most men’s browsing preferences… Online advertising has been a roller coaster of potential and fear, worthy of the best amusement rides.

What has been learned? Well, quite a bit really – the banners of the late 90s look very dated compared with the interactive and targeted ads we see today. Placement is focused far more consistently - indeed the list of those advertisers who withdrew from Facebook (First Direct, Vodafone, Virgin Media, the AA, Halifax and the Prudential) are indicative of major companies who recognize the potential value of Facebook’s users .

Google adwords is setting an ever higher expectation of relevance and targeting. Online advertising spend is greater than on radio, and is growing faster than any other sector.
While the six companies in question may be pleased to have been seen to avoid being linked to the BNP, the longer term certainty is they will find ways to reach the Facebook audience again, and soon. When unwanted material is only a click away on the internet, there will continue to be a pendulum like relationship between the utility of online advertising, and the risks.