As the furor caused by the role of online ads in the 2016 US presidential elections continues, Google is the latest tech company taking measures to make sure that all political ads run on its ad network will be transparent.
The last thing any of the big tech companies wants is to be implicated in another scandal related to the involvement of bad actors in elections – in the US or elsewhere. As a result, ahead of the 2018 midterm elections, Google is following Facebook in the transparency of political ads on its ads network. In a blog post late last week, Google’s senior vice president Kent Walker clarified Google’s efforts to verify buyers of political ads and to be transparent about who they are and how much they spend.
With regards to the US midterms coming up soon, Walker explained that in order to publish political ads, Google will now be requiring an advertiser to “confirm they are a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident, as required by law.” They can do this either with a government ID, or “other key information.” What the latter actually means, is unclear at this time.
Further to these measures, Google will be creating Transparency Reports that will tell interested parties who actually bought political ads and how much they spend on them. The reports will be published and made accessible to anyone who wants to find it.
This is not the first time Google does something to counter election interference. The Jigsaw Protect Your Elections toolkit is another.
More from Google
Google Brings New Shopping Section To Mobile Search In The U.S.
Google is bringing a new shopping section to mobile Search in the U.S., featuring clothes, shoes, and accessories from across …
Google Is Rolling Out A Search Console Training Video Series
To help website owners optimize their sites for Google Search, Google is rolling out a new Search Console training video …
Parallel Tracking Is Becoming Mandatory For Google Ads Video Campaigns
Google Ads is making parallel tracking mandatory for Video campaigns. Parallel tracking is already mandatory for Search, Shopping, and Display campaigns.
