Google told advertisers Friday that it will bar political advertisements on YouTube while votes are counted after the Nov. 3 presidential election.
The policy applies to all ad services, including, Google Ads, DV360, YouTube and AdX Authorized Buyer, serviced by Google, and targets direct political advertisements relating to state and federal elections, Axios reported.
“While this policy is in place, advertisers will not be able to run ads referencing candidates, the election, or its outcome, given that an unprecedented amount of votes will be counted after election day this year,” the company said in a letter reported by Axios. (RELATED: Facebook Will Ban New Political Ads 1 Week Before The Election To Curb Misinformation)
Scoop: Google informed its advertisers today that it will block election ads after polls close Nov. 3 https://t.co/QA6Uhfk0TM
— Axios (@axios) September 25, 2020
Google’s election ad policy mirrors former company initiatives implement to stifle disinformation, the report added. The company banned ads related to COVID-19 to avoid consumer confusion and the spread of fake products.
Facebook imposed similar restrictions in early September when CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the social media platform planned to ban all political issue ads the week prior to the presidential election.
“It’s important that campaigns can run get out the vote campaigns, and I generally believe the best antidote to bad speech is more speech, but in the final days of an election there may not be enough time to contest new claims,” Zuckerberg said in a statement.
Zuckerberg also pledged in the statement to limit misinformation regarding polling conditions within 72 hours of the election.
Google has not released a timeline regarding the ad ban but will consider factors including the length of the count and political unrest, according to Axios.
More than 28 million ballots have been requested and another 43 million are expected to be sent out to voters automatically, according to a CNN survey.