Google plans to ban advertisers from running ads related to the US presidential election after polls close on November 5th. Axios reports that this is the second time Google has decided to ban election advertising after polls close, having first implemented the policy in the 2020 election.
Google says it is re-enacting the policy this year “out of an abundance of caution and to limit the risk of confusion given the likelihood that votes will continue to be counted after Election Day.”
In the last presidential election in 2020, President Biden's victory took days to be certified after an influx of mail-in votes during the pandemic. Google's policy applies to all US election ads or ads related to the US elections served across its advertising platforms such as Google Ads, YouTube, Shopping Ads and more.
Meta will also block new political ads in the final week of the US election campaign, as it did in 2020. Additionally, advertisers will be required to disclose if they use AI or other digital methods to modify ads.