Overnight reports of inappropriate ads on YouTube started to flood in. According to multiple reports on Reddit, YouTube showed a video ad between YouTube Shorts for a pet meet-up app. In the background of the video was a porn playing with full audio in a very not safe for work experience.
Update: YouTube has sent Cord Cutters News the following statement about this issue. “We don’t allow ads on our platform that contain sexually explicit content. We’ve removed the ad in question and have taken action against the associated account consistent with our policies.”
Even though the porn had a transparent image over it, there was very little left to the imagination when it came to what was happening. You can see the complaints on Reddit here. (There are other posts on Reddit with videos of the ad. Viewer discretion is strongly advised as it is very not safe for work.) People also took to X to complain about these ads on YouTube.
The app it promotes is a real app, though it is unknown if they really paid for the ad. Recently, there has been a war between ad blockers and YouTube. Recently, YouTube has cracked down on ad-blockers to promote its Premium service. It is very possible one of the activist groups fighting against YouTube’s efforts to stop ad blockers arranged for this ad to be posted.
It seems the ad has now been taken down, but it was up for several hours on YouTube.
Cord Cutters News has reached out to YouTube for comment and will update this story as we learn more.