Google’s stupidity in accepting extremist content on YouTube and placing ads alongside it has resulted in more than 250 concerned advertisers withdrawing their support, including Audi, the BBC, BT, Coca-Cola, the Co-op, Dominos, HSBC, Lloyds, Marks and Spencer, McDonalds, Mercedes Benz, L’Oreal, O2, RBS and Waitrose.

A commission of £6.15 for every 1,000 views is paid by Google from the advertising revenue to the suppliers of the content. This means that the firms advertising have been unintentionally funding neo-Nazi organisations and terrorist groups. According to marketing experts these groups have made £250,000 from Google’s advertisers.

The Solicitor General has warned that Google could face prosecution under the Terrorism Act.

Mark Brittin, Google’s impressive European boss told delegates at a recent advertising conference that the money his employer makes from the arrangement with dangerous extremists is “pennies, not pounds” so that’s all right then.