Tech

Google's 'going to be just fine' despite ad controversy, said Vox CEO

Vox Media CEO: Google is going to be just fine
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Vox Media CEO: Google is going to be just fine

Alphabet's had a tough week, with a number of agencies pulling advertisements from the platform due to fears about what content their ads could be placed next to.

But don't worry about Google or YouTube, said Vox Media CEO Jim Bankoff on CNBC's "Power Lunch."

"Google's going to be just fine and YouTube is enormously popular," said Bankoff. Still, advertisers are more closely scrutinizing the content their ads are appearing next to, Bankoff told CNBC.

This week AT&T, Verizon and Johnson & Johnson — some the biggest advertisers in the U.S. — were among a number of companies that pulled hundreds of millions of dollars from Google and YouTube, amid concerns their brands appeared alongside offensive content promoting terrorism and hate.

So far, Wall Street seems to agree with Bankoff. RBC Capital Markets analyst Mark Mahaney noted Thursday that the firm would not change its current estimates for the company's ad revenue.

Facebook would be the likely beneficiary if there was a drop in interest in YouTube ads, wrote Mahaney. A recent RBC/AdAge survey showed just how strong advertiser interest in social, mobile and video ads has been, he wrote.

An estimated 20 percent of digital ad dollars are wasted on ads that are either never seen or do not properly load, said Bankoff. This issue, known as ad fraud, is another concern for advertisers.

Jim Bankoff, Chairman and CEO of Vox Media
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images

— With reporting from CNBC's Stefanie Kratter.

Disclosure: CNBC parent NBCUniversal is an investor in Vox Media.