YouTube Appears To Be Allowing Ads For NSFW AI Generators On Its Homepage, And That's Apparently In Line With Google's Moderation Policy

There are plenty of NSFW corners of the internet where one might expect to find advertisements that promise "This Game Will Make You C** In 30 Seconds," but traditionally, YouTube isn't one of them.

According to an irate Twitter / X user, the unsavory side of online advertising made its way to the internet's foremost destination for video content, and her complaints about this were allegedly ignored by YouTube's moderation team.

Last Saturday, Twitter user @Aliceinwunderl3 posted saying that she had booted up YouTube to find an advertisement for a service called "PicX." The advertisement features a blonde girl in a schoolgirl outfit alongside text that reads "AI generated ANY pics," written in a familiar orange-and-white text over a black background.

In case the nature of this service wasn't clear enough, a second textbox reads, "I can make you c#m in minute" (sic).

While Know Your Meme can't independently verify that the ad legitimately appeared on YouTube, others on Twitter reported seeing the advertisement as well.

Making matters worse is that, according to Aliceinwunderl3, YouTube moderators responded to a report of the ad by saying it didn't violate any guidelines.

In a follow-up tweet, she shared YouTube's response, which stated that the advertisement didn't go against Google's guidelines.

This may seem at odds with Google's actual guidelines for advertisers, as the ad clearly falls under their guidelines for ads promoting "sexual entertainment," which Google defines as "Online or offline sexually suggestive entertainment," such as "strip clubs, adult movie festivals, sexually suggestive live streaming or live chat, sexually suggestive role playing games."

However, Google's guidelines do say that such content can be shown, albeit to a very limited audience. Its guidelines for "sexual entertainment" fall under the "Moderately restricted" category. This means the ad could have been shown to users based on "the user’s age, the local laws where the ad is being served, and the user’s SafeSearch settings."

In essence, because users seeing this ad are of age, live in a country where such content is legal, and have SafeSearch off, they are in the audience to receive the advertisement, according to Google's own policy. By this metric, it's presumed that this kind of content isn't being shown to minors.

Still, as testimonies about the suggestive ad spread, many found it hypocritical of YouTube and Google, who have been quick to punish streamers and creators for even the slightest stray into PG-13 content.

The story indicates another challenge the growing rise of AI-generated pornography presents to moderators and internet users.

As a recent AI controversy surrounding Taylor Swift generates speculation that Congress will act to limit AI pornography generation, it seems moderators of the internet's largest platforms risk angering their users by not cracking down on it.