This is Why Verizon Paused its Advertising on Facebook and Instagram

According to Verizon’s CEO Hans Vestberg, it was unacceptable Facebook content showing up next to the company’s advertising that prompted the company to pause with the social media giant.

Vestberg said in an exclusive interview with CNBC that Verizon paused advertising with Facebook after seeing unacceptable Facebook content show up alongside of Verizon advertising.

The Chief Executive however declined to say what he specifically asked from Facebook but said “similar discussions” occurred with YouTube in 2017. Vestberg said that the ads “were not compliant with our standard agreements.”

According to The Information, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said last week that he expects companies including Verizon that are boycotting Facebook to be “back on the platform soon enough.”

It was in June that Verizon announced it was temporarily pausing advertising with Facebook and its Instagram subsidiary until it felt more “comfortable” with the social media platforms.

At the time, Verizon was the largest advertiser to halt its ad spending. The boycott now encompasses more than 750 companies, including companies such as Coca-Cola, Starbucks and Unilever.

The company spent about $23 million in 2019 U.S. advertising on Facebook and more on Instagram, according to data from Pathmatics.

Vestberg told CNBC that Verizon’s decision was driven by a desire to maintain “a very high standard for our brands.”

“Everything we do around our brand is super important,” Vestberg said. “Where we show up, etc. What happened was that certain things on Facebook that were appearing next to our content were not compliant with our standard agreements with Facebook. So we decided to pause and work with them to see how we can avoid this in the future.”

“This happened with YouTube, and we worked with them and we solved it,” Vestberg said. “We try to work with our partners that we’re using for advertising. But, again, for us, we’re very sensitive to our brand values and our brand standards.”

Disclaimer: We have no position in any of the companies mentioned and have not been compensated for this article.