Revenue vs. Ethics
Earlier this year, Logan Paul stirred up controversy by uploading a YouTube video showing a “suicide forest” in Japan, where residents frequently commit suicide. In the video, he filmed the body of a person who had committed suicide by hanging. Since his content is usually target to children and young teenagers, the entire community was shocked that he took it too far. YouTube quickly realized that advertisers would not want to implicitly condone such behavior by paying for ad slots on his channel, so they temporarily suspended advertising on his channel, which could have cast him $40k-$700k per month if it were to be permanent. Popular personalities may generate higher market clearing prices because of high demand, but what if that individual in controversial or expresses views you do not like. Do you not bid because of morality or acknowledge the fact that even though he/she may be edgy, you as the advertiser are trying to get to the people? Participating in such an 2nd price auction involves these questions and decisions that arise from it.