Google Limits Political Ad Targeting, Bans Misleading Info
- Search giant ends access to Customer Match for election ads
- Changes come as campaigns step up spending ahead of 2020
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Google is severely limiting how political advertisers can target people online, a decision made after weeks of furious debate over how online platforms handle campaign messages.
The Alphabet Inc. unit said in a blog post on Wednesday it will no longer allow election ads to be targeted based on political affiliation on Google Search, YouTube and across the web. The company is also restricting misinformation and banning doctored media known as deepfakes in ads following criticism that Google and rival Facebook Inc. ran ads from U.S. President Donald Trump that were intentionally misleading.