Google suspends political advertising in the EU: what you need to know about the new rules
Due to new EU rules governing political advertising, Google has decided to completely stop displaying political content on its platforms in the European Union until October 2025.
Google political advertising ban
New EU rules
Technology giant Google has announced important changes to its advertising policy in the European Union. The company decided to completely stop placing political advertising due to upcoming regulatory changes.
Causes and consequences
The basis for this step was the introduction of the new Regulation on transparency and targeting of political advertising. According to Google, this document contains too broad an interpretation of the concept of political advertising, and detailed technical clarifications are expected only by the time the rules come into force - October 2025.
Scope of restrictions
Restrictions will affect not only the Google advertising network, but also YouTube video hosting within the EU. It is worth noting that similar measures are already in place in a number of countries, including Canada, France and Brazil, where the company previously stopped placing political advertising.
Regulatory context
Google's advertising activities have been under the scrutiny of European regulators for several years. Despite the fact that in 2019 the company managed to avoid penalties for violations in the advertising sector, new claims regarding antitrust laws arose last year. In parallel, the company is conducting an experiment to limit access to the content of European news publications in the Google Search, Google News and Discover services.
Glossary
- Google is an American technology company, a global leader in Internet search and online advertising
- YouTube is the largest video hosting platform owned by Google
- Google Search is Google's search engine
- Google News - news aggregator from Google
- Discover - personalized content feed from Google
Links
- Engadget
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Discussion of the topic – Google suspends political advertising in the EU: what you need to know about the new rules
Google stops running political ads in the EU due to new regulatory requirements and uncertainty about political ad targeting rules
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Antonio
I wonder how this will affect the EU elections? 🤔 In Spain, politicians actively use Google Ads for campaigns
Sophie
I think this is the right decision. There is already too much manipulation of political advertising on social media. At least Google is showing a responsible approach 👍
Klaus
And it seems to me that Google simply does not want to take responsibility. It’s easier to ban all political advertising than to deal with the new rules 🤷♂️
Viktor
Pfft, another show off from corporations. We used to live without all this digital advertising and it was normal. They just waste money on these innovations. 😤
Marie
Antonio, in France such a ban is already in effect. Politicians now pay more attention to personal meetings with voters. I think this is even better 😊
Sophie
Klaus, I agree that the rules are complicated, but it’s better to be safe. Remember the Cambridge Analytica scandal 😱
Antonio
Marie, really? What about the turnout at elections after the ban? I wonder how this affected voter activity 🤔
Klaus
Sophie, yes, but this may result in smaller parties losing the opportunity to get their point across. Not everyone has a budget for TV advertising 💸