FT社评：广告主向Facebook和谷歌发出挑战

US tech groups already face fierce scrutiny of their impact on society, from politicians and consumer advocates, activist investors and their own former employees. Now some of their biggest customers are stepping up criticism of a digital ad market dominated by Google and Facebook. Unilever, one of the world’s largest marketing spenders, is threatening to pull its ads from digital platforms if they “create division”, foster hate or fail to protect children.

美国科技集团对社会的影响已受到从政界人士到消费者权益保护者、维权投资者以及它们自己的前雇员等各界人士的密切审视。现在，它们的一些大客户正在严厉批评由谷歌(Google)和Facebook主导的数字广告市场。全球最大的营销支出者之一联合利华(Unilever)威胁称，如果数字平台“制造分裂”、助长仇恨或未能保护儿童，就会将其广告撤下。

It is not the first time Keith Weed, Unilever’s chief marketing officer, has criticised what he calls the “murky” world of digital media. In the past, he focused on the tech platforms’ lack of transparency over data and metrics, pressing them to make sure ads were being viewed by real people. The crucial issue now, he argues, is whether consumers trust what they see online, given concerns about fake news, election meddling, trolling and the platforms’ failures to police content that glorifies terrorism or exploits children.

这并不是联合利华的首席营销官基思•威德(Keith Weed)第一次批评被其称为“阴暗”的数字媒体世界。过去，他关注科技平台在数据和衡量指标方面缺乏透明度的问题，敦促它们确保广告被真人看到。他认为，现在关键的问题是，鉴于对假新闻、选举干预、网络喷子以及平台未能管束那些宣扬恐怖主义或剥削儿童的内容的担忧，消费者是否信任他们在网上看到的东西。

These are generally seen as ethical issues demanding a response in the form of regulation, such as Germany’s introduction of fines for companies that fail to remove hate speech or fake news. But from the advertisers’ point of view, it is a matter of quality control: the digital platforms promise that ads will appear next to appropriate content, and they have proved unable to ensure that this is always the case.

这些通常被视为道德问题，需要以监管手段作出回应，例如德国出台了对未能消除仇恨言论或假消息的公司处以罚款的规定。但从广告主的角度来看，这是一个质量控制问题：数字平台承诺广告将出现在适当内容的旁边，而事实证明它们无法确保始终做到这一点。

The tech groups are stepping up their efforts to police content, in response to growing public concern and the threat of regulation. However, they have in general been reluctant to accept responsibility or to take action that would entail any significant change to their business model. It is reasonably clear that they could do more, if it became a commercial imperative.

为了应对日益增长的公众关注和监管威胁，科技集团正在加大努力监督内容。但是，它们一般不愿意承担责任，或者采取将会导致其商业模式发生重大变化的行动。显然，如果商业上需要的话，他们就会做得更多。

YouTube’s experience last year illustrates this. The video site took a hit to its bottom line when big customers quit after ads appeared next to extremist content and videos featuring children and explicit comments. YouTube is now hiring more people to review where ads run and take down unacceptable content. But it has been more hesitant about rule changes that could anger its creator community.

YouTube去年的经历就说明了这一点。当广告出现在极端主义内容和包含露骨评论的儿童视频旁边的时候，大客户撤出，这家视频网站的利润大幅下降。YouTube现在正在招聘更多人手来审查广告的投放位置，并删除不可接受的内容。但是，对于可能激怒其创作者群体的规则修改，它表现得更加犹豫不决。

However, YouTube is trying to fix a relatively clear-cut problem. Advertisers are voicing a much broader concern: that consumers increasingly dislike digital advertising and do not trust it. Hence a call from some of the UK’s biggest advertisers for tech platforms to set up an independent body to enforce common standards on content.

不过YouTube正试图解决一个相对明显的问题。广告主表达了一种更广泛的担忧：消费者越来越不喜欢数字广告，也不相信这类广告。因此，英国一些大型广告主向科技平台发出呼吁，要求成立一个独立组织，以实施一套行业通用的内容标准。

Pressure from advertisers will only go so far, though. At this stage, Unilever and those who share its frustrations still have no realistic alternative.

然而，来自广告主的压力也只能起到这样的作用。在现阶段，联合利华和其他同样感到失望的公司没有其他现实选择。

The latest results from Twitter and Snapchat have done something to revive sagging hopes that they might provide competition for the Google/Facebook duopoly in the long term. Snap presents itself as a safer environment through its offer of curated news. Advertisers will do what they can to foster this nascent competition. They will also seek to work with Amazon. More product searches already take place on Amazon than Google, and the ecommerce company is now looking to push deeper into online advertising.

Twitter和Snapchat的最新财报在一定程度上有助于让人们重燃希望：长期而言，它们可能会给谷歌和Facebook双头垄断的局面注入竞争。Snap通过提供经过精选的新闻展示出自己的更安全环境。广告主将会尽其所能地培育这种新出现的竞争。它们还将寻求与亚马逊(Amazon)合作。亚马逊平台上的产品搜索已超过谷歌，这家电商公司还考虑更深入地开拓在线广告业务。

But the others are still minnows next to the Facebook and Google duopoly — which was set to attract more than 80 per cent of global spending on digital advertising outside China last year. With hindsight, Google’s 2008 acquisition of DoubleClick, the automated ad exchange, was a defining moment, underpinning Google’s dominance in the sale of display ads. Competition authorities, who approved the acquisition, now need to be sure the duopoly is working in consumers’ interests.

但其他公司的实力仍远远无法撼动Facebook和谷歌的双寡头垄断——去年，不包含中国地区，这两家公司估计吸引了超过80%的全球数字广告支出。现在看来，谷歌在2008年收购自动广告交换平台DoubleClick是一个分水岭，巩固了谷歌在销售“产品显示广告”方面的主导地位。当年批准这笔收购的竞争当局现在需要确保这对寡头的行为符合消费者的利益。