Google will join Facebook in temporarily banning political ads after Election Day in the US
Man, the thought of delayed election results gives me so much anxiety.
Just a heads up, if you buy something through our links, we may get a small share of the sale. It’s one of the ways we keep the lights on here. Click here for more.
Google must really hate money because, after Election Day, the company is temporarily banning political ads on its platform once the polls close, reports Axios. This makes Google the second advertising company to do this, following Facebook’s lead.
Google wrote this in a recent blog post: “Given the possibility of delayed election results this year (and to limit the potential for ads to increase confusion post-election), we made the decision to enforce our Sensitive Events policy as soon as the polls close on November 3, which will temporarily pause ads referencing the 2020 election, the candidates, or its outcome.” This information comes from Google’s Director of Trust and Safety, Amanda Storey.
How long will the ban be in place? It’s unclear at this time. However, a source familiar with the story told Axios the ban could last as long as seven days. From there, Google will review its policy every week after that.
This isn’t anything new. Google has had these sorts of policies in place for a while now under the Sensitive Events label. The company’s guidelines state that it will not allow ads that “potentially profit from or exploit a sensitive event with significant social, cultural, or political impact, such as civil emergencies, natural disasters, public health emergencies, terrorism and related activities, conflict, or mass acts of violence.”
Political ads are big business. And if you’re a human with an internet connection living in the U.S, chances are you’ve run into a ton of them already. Google says advertisers can’t get enough of these ads, and they’re getting a ton of requests to place them. According to Bloomberg, it’s so bad that Google’s own YouTube is running out of ad space to place them all.
One thing that’s clearly obvious here is that companies are preparing for delayed election results, which is honestly a nightmare given the current political landscape. And the fact that these major advertising companies don’t want to make money off this potential circus speaks extreme volumes.
Have any thoughts on this? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.
Editors’ Recommendations:
- Facebook says they rejected 2.2 million ads meant to interfere with US election
- Ahead of the US election, Facebook will pay people to deactivate Facebook and Instagram
- Facebook and Twitter say Russia is at it again with disinformation campaigns ahead of the election
- Facebook will not accept new political ads in the week leading up to the US presidential election
Follow us on Flipboard, Google News, or Apple News
