Google will stop showing political ads throughout the European Union

The Google company has announced that starting in October 2025 it will no longer accept political ads in Europe. “The upcoming EU Regulation on Transparency and Targeting of Political Advertising (TTPA) introduces operational risks and legal uncertainties for platforms. [qui diffusent des publicités politiques] »writes.

Google considers that this new text, which aims to harmonize and clarify the rules governing political advertising in the European Union, “Defines political ads so broadly that it will cover ads on a wide range of topics”which makes your application too complex.

In France, the company has already implemented a ban on political advertising during election campaign periods, as established by law. Now they will be prohibited throughout the year; However, few French political parties use these tools.

Electoral campaigns or social issues

While it is easy to identify ads funded by a political party, big platforms and regulators have often had, in recent years, different positions regarding ads that address “social issues.” Google or Facebook, for their part, apply different rules depending on whether they are ads that encourage people to vote for a political party (or a candidate) or that are related to a cause or social issue, even when these issues are central. in the political debate. a country.

Google also specifies that sponsored videos that could be considered political ads as defined by the new European regulation will also be prohibited on YouTube.