Google intends to prohibit advertisers from running ads related to the U.S. presidential election after polls close on November 5th. According to Axios, this marks the second occasion that Google has enacted such a ban following the implementation of a similar policy during the 2020 election.
The company stated that it is reinstating the policy this year “out of an abundance of caution and to limit the potential for confusion, given the likelihood that votes will continue to be counted after Election Day.”
In the 2020 presidential election, the confirmation of President Biden’s victory took several days due to the surge in postal voting during the pandemic. Google’s policy is applicable to any U.S. election ads, or ads that reference U.S. elections, running across its platforms such as Google Ads, YouTube, and Shopping ads.
Meta is similarly restricting new political ads during the final week of the U.S. election campaign, as it did in 2020. Additionally, Meta requires advertisers to disclose the use of AI or other digital techniques to modify ads.
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