After it was revealed earlier this year that ads for major brands were appearing next to extremist content on YouTube, leading to a mass exodus of advertisers costing Google an estimated $750m, the Financial Times has uncovered YouTube’s way of smoothing over with advertisers: refunds of less than $3.

Three unidentified advertisers all confirmed they had been offered refunds around the “couple of dollars” mark.

These refunds seems to be the result of an automated process when YouTube terminates the account of users violating its ad policy, which includes crediting the accounts of anyone who advertised on that content.

Google is working on a more long-term solution. Last month, it laid out a four-point plan for combating extremist content on its platform, and has been “regularly” meeting with the UK’s Cabinet Office to discuss how it will tackle the issue, according to a government spokesperson.

Nevertheless, with the controversy still ongoing – the FT lists a string of advertisers which have not yet returned ads to YouTube, including the BBC, Guardian, Marks and Spencer and even the UK government – gestures like these small refunds are only likely to fan the flames.

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