Facebook this week agreed to give U.K. advertisers more control over where their ads appear on the social network, but it was not immediately clear whether several large companies would reconsider their decision to pull their ads from social network sites.

At least six major U.K.-based advertisers, including Virgin Media and the British automobile association, as well as the British government’s publicity arm, stopped advertising on Facebook after banner ads for Vodafone and First Direct appeared on a webpage belonging to right-wing, racist British National Party.

A Facebook spokesperson said the company will allow U.K. advertisers to choose whether they want their ads to appear alongside group pages on Facebook. The social network also said it is exploring technology to provide more options to advertisers.

The announcement came not a moment too soon for Khalil Ibrahimi, founder of London-based ad network Unanimis and the chairman of the Internet Advertising Sales House, a committee of the UK’s Internet Advertising Bureau in charge of creating a national code of conduct for U.K. advertisers. “It’s about bloody time,” Mr. Ibrahimi said.

He said Facebook’s move was a good start, but the uproar over the British ads appearing next to offensive content on Facebook is a symptom of an ongoing disconnect between U.S. publishers and U.K. advertisers.

Nearly two years ago, 15 major U.K. ad houses signed on to the IASH code of conduct, which bars advertisers from advertising on sites where discriminatory or violent content appears. But the agencies have had trouble meshing that code of conduct with U.S.-based sites, which tend to host more outrageous user-generated content than British sites, according to Mr. Ibrahimi.

He said that because British speech laws differ from American statutes, U.K. publishers can be held legally responsible for offensive content on their sites. In turn, he said, British advertisers are more likely to go after publishers for defamation of brand equity when their ads run next to that content, Mr. Ibrahimi said.

Rupert Staines, a vice president at ad network Adviva, said via email that he is not impressed with Facebook’s first steps. “In this specific case, Facebook should be more detailed about the action they are taking and the tools they are developing to ensure total protection as well as the rules by which the agency/advertiser has to play,” he said.

Facebook’s new steps will first take effect in the UK. The Facebook spokesperson said the company is considering options for advertisers in the other countries where the site operates.