The company said political ads would not be specifically targeted to audiences based on their voters lists or political affiliations.
SAN FRANCISCO - Google will limit the accuracy with which political advertisers can target an audience on its online services, the company said Wednesday in a move that upset the digital plans of the campaigns during the presidential election of 2020.
Political advertisers will be able to target their messages based on their age, gender or place of residence. Google will also allow targeted ads based on the content of the websites visited. However, advertisements can no longer be directed to specific audiences based on their public voter registers or their political affiliations classified as "left", "right" or "independent", said the company in a blog .
The policy will apply to ads for Google search engine and YouTube users, as well as ads that are served by the company on other websites.
The decision left political strategists stunned and in a hurry to react. Modern political campaigns rely on the tools and data offered by technology giants such as Google and Facebook, who dominate the online advertising industry. Campaigns were able to send various messages to potential voters based on signals such as political trends, what articles they read, what videos they watched, and what things they searched for.
Rather than covering an entire city with an expensive TV spot, the so-called "micro-targeting" of political ads has become controversial as it allows advertisers to search for specific voters and perhaps avoid more control over their messages. .
"This will align our approach to election announcements with long-established practices in the media such as television, radio and the print media, and allow wider dissemination of election announcements and make them public for public debate", wrote Scott Spencer, vice president of Google ads. team.
Technology companies are increasingly being criticized for the way they handle political discourse, including advertising. Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive of Facebook, has been accused of amplifying misinformation, hate speech and violent content. But he said he would not block political ads containing false statements, despite mounting pressure, including from Democrats, to do so.
Last month, Twitter announced that it would ban all political ads from its service. Twitter's decision was widely seen as a response to the controversy sparked by Facebook.
Brad Parscale, Trump's campaign director, criticized Google for the policy change, accusing political elites and techies of "rigging elections" and saying they "will not stop until they they will not have controlled all the digital political speeches. Earlier in the day, the Trump campaign also criticized Facebook in a tweet for considering changing its political advertising policy, saying it "wanted to take away important tools for 2020".
Tom Channick, a spokesman for Facebook, said the company "is looking at ways to refine our approach to political advertising."
Although Google has never allowed any advertiser - not even politicians - to make false statements, it clarified its policy of explicitly banning ads making "patently false claims that could significantly undermine participation or trust" in the electoral process. Google, however, said he intended to act on a "very limited" number of political announcements. Michael Posner, a professor at New York University's Stern School of Business, said Google's policy change was a good start, but that it did not go far enough in dealing with potential misinformation.
"It sounds too much like a lawyer looking for a language to give society a lot of latitude," said Posner.
Google has announced that it will present the new policies within a week in Britain, before the general election of the country, then the United States and the rest of the world in January, shortly before the caucuses of Iowa. The company said the ad policy would include all candidates or agents elected by the state or the federal government.
In an email to campaigns, Google introduced the new rules in more detail, including that election ads will no longer be allowed to target so-called "affinity audiences" that resemble other groups. that campaigns might want to target. Campaigns can no longer upload their own lists of people to display ads.
In addition, there will be no more remarketing, the ad serving process to people who have already done something like visiting a campaign's website.
"It eliminates our ability to target on the basis of any personal information," said Danielle Butterfield, Pay Media Director of Priorities USA, a super PAC Democrat who has announced plans to spend more than $ 100 million, much of which online.
Keegan Goudiss, a digital Democratic strategist, worried about implications beyond the countryside. "We are moving quickly to a world where corporate communication takes precedence over anything that is considered" political ", he said. "It's dangerous for democracy."
The misfortune was spread on both sides of the alley.
Michael Duncan, a Republican digital strategist, called the announcement a "horrific" gesture that "will hurt the cash-strapped local campaigns," which often relies on microtargeting to succeed.
"They appease a crowd that will never be satisfied and undermine the foundation of the Internet economy," Duncan wrote on Twitter.
Daisuke Wakabayashi has been reported in San Francisco and Shane Goldmacher in New York. Kate Conger contributed to the story of San Francisco.
Shane Goldmacher is a national political journalist and was previously the main political correspondent for the Metro Desk. Before joining The Times, he worked at Politico, where he covered national Republican politics and the 2016 presidential campaign. @ShaneGoldmacher
SAN FRANCISCO - Google will limit the accuracy with which political advertisers can target an audience on its online services, the company said Wednesday in a move that upset the digital plans of the campaigns during the presidential election of 2020.
Political advertisers will be able to target their messages based on their age, gender or place of residence. Google will also allow targeted ads based on the content of the websites visited. However, advertisements can no longer be directed to specific audiences based on their public voter registers or their political affiliations classified as "left", "right" or "independent", said the company in a blog .
The policy will apply to ads for Google search engine and YouTube users, as well as ads that are served by the company on other websites.
The decision left political strategists stunned and in a hurry to react. Modern political campaigns rely on the tools and data offered by technology giants such as Google and Facebook, who dominate the online advertising industry. Campaigns were able to send various messages to potential voters based on signals such as political trends, what articles they read, what videos they watched, and what things they searched for.
Rather than covering an entire city with an expensive TV spot, the so-called "micro-targeting" of political ads has become controversial as it allows advertisers to search for specific voters and perhaps avoid more control over their messages. .
"This will align our approach to election announcements with long-established practices in the media such as television, radio and the print media, and allow wider dissemination of election announcements and make them public for public debate", wrote Scott Spencer, vice president of Google ads. team.
Technology companies are increasingly being criticized for the way they handle political discourse, including advertising. Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive of Facebook, has been accused of amplifying misinformation, hate speech and violent content. But he said he would not block political ads containing false statements, despite mounting pressure, including from Democrats, to do so.
Last month, Twitter announced that it would ban all political ads from its service. Twitter's decision was widely seen as a response to the controversy sparked by Facebook.
Brad Parscale, Trump's campaign director, criticized Google for the policy change, accusing political elites and techies of "rigging elections" and saying they "will not stop until they they will not have controlled all the digital political speeches. Earlier in the day, the Trump campaign also criticized Facebook in a tweet for considering changing its political advertising policy, saying it "wanted to take away important tools for 2020".
Tom Channick, a spokesman for Facebook, said the company "is looking at ways to refine our approach to political advertising."
Although Google has never allowed any advertiser - not even politicians - to make false statements, it clarified its policy of explicitly banning ads making "patently false claims that could significantly undermine participation or trust" in the electoral process. Google, however, said he intended to act on a "very limited" number of political announcements. Michael Posner, a professor at New York University's Stern School of Business, said Google's policy change was a good start, but that it did not go far enough in dealing with potential misinformation.
"It sounds too much like a lawyer looking for a language to give society a lot of latitude," said Posner.
Google has announced that it will present the new policies within a week in Britain, before the general election of the country, then the United States and the rest of the world in January, shortly before the caucuses of Iowa. The company said the ad policy would include all candidates or agents elected by the state or the federal government.
In an email to campaigns, Google introduced the new rules in more detail, including that election ads will no longer be allowed to target so-called "affinity audiences" that resemble other groups. that campaigns might want to target. Campaigns can no longer upload their own lists of people to display ads.
In addition, there will be no more remarketing, the ad serving process to people who have already done something like visiting a campaign's website.
"It eliminates our ability to target on the basis of any personal information," said Danielle Butterfield, Pay Media Director of Priorities USA, a super PAC Democrat who has announced plans to spend more than $ 100 million, much of which online.
Keegan Goudiss, a digital Democratic strategist, worried about implications beyond the countryside. "We are moving quickly to a world where corporate communication takes precedence over anything that is considered" political ", he said. "It's dangerous for democracy."
The misfortune was spread on both sides of the alley.
Michael Duncan, a Republican digital strategist, called the announcement a "horrific" gesture that "will hurt the cash-strapped local campaigns," which often relies on microtargeting to succeed.
"They appease a crowd that will never be satisfied and undermine the foundation of the Internet economy," Duncan wrote on Twitter.
Daisuke Wakabayashi has been reported in San Francisco and Shane Goldmacher in New York. Kate Conger contributed to the story of San Francisco.
Shane Goldmacher is a national political journalist and was previously the main political correspondent for the Metro Desk. Before joining The Times, he worked at Politico, where he covered national Republican politics and the 2016 presidential campaign. @ShaneGoldmacher
