SAN FRANCISCO: YouTube will no longer allow political or election ads in its coveted masthead spot at the top of the site’s homepage nor ads for alcohol, gambling and prescription drugs.
In an email to advertisers, YouTube said the change built on its move last year to retire all masthead ads. It said it has retired these full-day reservations, like the one then-President Donald Trump reserved to dominate its homepage on Election Day 2020, and replaced them with more targeted formats.
“We regularly review our advertising requirements to ensure they balance the needs of both advertisers and users,” a Google spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
“We believe this update will build on changes we made last year to the masthead reservation process and will lead to a better experience for users,” it added. Google said that the change to its most prominent ad unit was effective immediately.
Google paused political ads altogether around the US presidential election and again ahead of President Joe Biden’s inauguration in January this year, citing its policy over sensitive events.
READ MORE: Google tightens political ads policy to thwart abuse
According to YouTube’s ad support page, ads in the masthead slot can “drive massive reach or awareness,” but will no longer be available to people wanting to advertise in certain spaces.
Google already provides a way for users to limit the number of alcohol and gambling-related ads seen on YouTube. Last year the company changed the slot to show targeted ads rather than ones reserved for an entire day.
Google has tried to balance its policies to determine what it show in ads and has controlled hate speech, political misinformation, and conspiracy theories around COVID-19.
Google’s ads business has also increasingly come under scrutiny from lawmakers who believe it’s ripe for anti-trust enforcement.
