#Unilever drops Facebook ad boycott after six months

Unilever is ending its boycott of Facebook ads.

The consumer-products giant in June had suspended all of its spending on the social networking giant due to “the polarized atmosphere in the US,” saying at the time that running its ads on Facebook “would not add value to people and society.”

Now, however, Unilever has softened its stance, and announced that it will resume advertising on the social network beginning in January. The company said in a blog post that it has seen “encouraging progress” from Facebook, and has had its concerns assuaged by Facebook’s “new commitments and reporting to monitor progress.”

“We are encouraged by the commitments the platforms are making to build healthier environments for consumers, brands and society,” Unilever EVP Luis Di Como said in a statement, adding that it “will continue to reassess our position as necessary.”

Unilever, along with other major names like North Face, Patagonia, Verizon and Ben & Jerry’s, had yanked its ads in support of civil rights groups who hammered Facebook for what they called its failure to do enough about hate speech and misinformation.

The “Stop Hate for Profit” campaign got more than 400 major advertisers to jump ship from Facebook.

A representative for Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Unilever’s decision likely won’t have a large impact on Facebook’s bottom line. The Mark Zuckerberg-led tech giant walloped Wall Street’s expectations in is last earnings report despite the boycott, with revenue growing 22 percent year-over-year to $21.5 billion.