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Tag: political ads

  • Prepare for Less Political Ads in Your Gmail Inbox

    Prepare for Less Political Ads in Your Gmail Inbox

    Google is ending a controversial pilot program and will stop exempting political ads from automatic spam filters, a move that will delight and anger.

    Google began a pilot program to exempt political email from automatic spam filtering in an effort to appease GOP claims that its filters unfairly targeted right-wing emails. Google disputed the claims, saying the GOP’s supporting study used flawed parameters.

    According to The Washington Post, Google is now letting the pilot program end and will no longer exempt political emails.

    “The RNC is wrong,” Google argued in a motion to dismiss the GOP’s complaint. “Gmail’s spam filtering policies apply equally to emails from all senders, whether they are politically affiliated or not.”

    The news is sure to anger GOP politicians, but will be a big win for consumers who already struggle with a near-overwhelming amount of spam.

  • Twitter Will Allow Political Ads On the Platform

    Twitter Will Allow Political Ads On the Platform

    Twitter is doing an about-face, relaxing its stance on political ads to be more aligned with television.

    Twitter has had a policy of no political ads for some time, but the company is struggling to keep advertisers following Elon Musk’s takeover of the company. The company’s Safety Account announced the change in a tweet:

    Moving forward, we will align our advertising policy with that of TV and other media outlets. As with all policy changes, we will first ensure that our approach to reviewing and approving content protects people on Twitter. We’ll share more details as this work progresses.

    Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety), January 3, 2023

    Anyone who previously looked to the platform as a way to escape the mind-numbing onslaught of political ads on TV now have one more reason to make the move to Mastodon.

  • Facebook Will Allow Users to Hide Political Ads

    Facebook Will Allow Users to Hide Political Ads

    Facebook has made a major change to how it handles political ads, giving users the ability to hide them for the first time ever.

    Facebook has been under ongoing scrutiny and criticism for how it handles political ads. Critics across the political spectrum have accused Facebook of not doing enough to combat misinformation. The company has so far resisted attempts to police political ads, exempting them from any kind of fact-checking. This has created an environment where a politician can say virtually anything about a rival, with no consequence.

    In an op-ed in USA Today, CEO Mark Zuckerberg defended the company’s stance, saying “accountability only works if we can see what those seeking our votes are saying, even if we viscerally dislike what they say.”

    At the same time, for those who want to log on to Facebook to catch up with friends, see what the family is up to and watch a cute cat video or two, all without the stress of being bombarded by political ads, Facebook’s new feature will be a welcome one.

    “Starting today for some people and rolling out to everyone in the US over the next few weeks, people will be able to turn off all social issue, electoral or political ads from candidates, Super PACs or other organizations that have the ‘Paid for by’ political disclaimer on them,” reads a company blog post. “You can do this on Facebook or Instagram directly from any political or social issue ad or through each platform’s ad settings. However, we know our system isn’t perfect. So if you’ve selected this preference and still see an ad that you think is political, please click the upper right corner of the ad and report it to us.”

    It’s probably a safe bet this feature will be one of the most used options Facebook has ever rolled out.

  • Twitter’s New Ads Transparency Center Reveals Who Buys Ads on Its Platform

    Twitter’s New Ads Transparency Center Reveals Who Buys Ads on Its Platform

    With the midterm elections coming up, Twitter users will have to brace themselves for a barrage of ads. But this time around, they’ll also be getting information on who paid for those ads and why they received said advertisement.

    Twitter recently announced that it’s making more critical information accessible in its Ads Transparency Center. Users now have a dashboard where they can check up on an advertiser on Twitter and see the ads that they ran on the social media platform that week.

    Additional information will also be provided for political ads that are linked to specific politicians and campaigns in federal elections. The Ads Transparency Center will make critical details open to the public, like how much advertisers have paid or spent and the factors used to target particular users. Twitter will also be marking those ads with a badge to indicate that it’s a political advertisement.

    According to Bruce Falck, Twitter’s Revenue Product general manager, the badge and extra information will “allow users to easily identify political campaign ads, know who paid for them, and whether it was authorized by a candidate.”

    The news about the Ads Transparency Center came on the heels of American lawmakers questioning social media platforms like Facebook, Google, and Twitter about political messaging during the last presidential election.

    Lawmakers have previously asked these companies what they were doing to ensure that political ads running on their platforms were legal and followed campaign laws on finance. This is crucial, especially in the wake of intelligence agency findings that the Russian government may have instigated an online campaign of division and misinformation.

    Facebook, Google, and Twitter have already committed to doing more to classify political ads and inform users on who bought them. Facebook rolled out a searchable political ads archive on its platform as well as on Instagram in May. Meanwhile, Google announced it would soon release a report regarding political ad spending on its services.

    [Featured image via Pixabay]

  • Facebook, Google Get Sued by Washington State Over Political Ad Records

    Facebook, Google Get Sued by Washington State Over Political Ad Records

    Washington has filed a lawsuit against Facebook and Google over their inability to show their records on who purchased political ads on the platform. The two companies were reportedly paid millions for political ads but have failed in publishing key information, like the advertiser’s address, that’s required by law.

    Washington legislation mandates that advertisers collate and store key information on political ads, including the advertiser or buyer’s name and address, cost of the ad, and the candidate’s name, party or the proposal that’s being opposed or supported.

    The lawsuits have been filed by the Bob Ferguson, the Attorney General of Washington State. Ferguson stated in a press release that “Washingtonians have a right to know who’s paying for the political advertising they see.”

    Washington law states that anyone has the right to visit an advertiser and ask for information regarding political ads. The lawsuit claims that both Facebook and Google did not or could not provide this information when a reporter requested them. As a matter of fact, the two companies have not complied with this law since 2013. Now the Attorney General is thinking of levying fines and injunctions against the two corporations.

    The lawsuits filed by the Attorney General are noteworthy as they follow on the heels of increased criticism regarding the involvement of technology companies in perceived election manipulation and the dissemination of “fake news.”

    Facebook and Google have already taken steps to manage this problem. For instance, Mark Zuckerberg’s company will establish a political ads archive and will reportedly label all such advertisements. Google is also set to develop an online archive of political ads that ran on its platform. Facebook is also now demanding identity verification for all issue-based and election advertisements. However, it seems these measures are not enough and the general public remains skeptical that they will make a difference.

    The two companies have been given 20 days to reply to the lawsuit filed by the state of Washington.

    Rob Leathern, Facebook’s Director of Product Management, has revealed that the company is introducing tools that will “set a new standard for transparency in digital advertising.” He also added that Attorney General Ferguson has asked crucial questions and that Facebook is looking forward “to resolving this matter with his office quickly.”

    Meanwhile, a spokesperson from Google stated that the company is “committed to transparency and disclosure in political advertising” and that they’re already reviewing the complaint and will soon be coordinating with the office of the Attorney General.

    [Featured image via Pixabay]

  • Viral Video: Santorum Paid Ad Shows Brown Froth

    Viral Video: Santorum Paid Ad Shows Brown Froth

    File this in the Unbelievable category. Even given Rick Santorum’s “Google problem” (you know the one we mean), some PR firm produced a video for him featuring the candidate being shot with brown goop.

    The video has a Mitt Romney look-alike shooting mud at a cardboard cut-out of Rick Santorum. In the end, the “Romney” guy gets shot with the brown stuff himself.

    Anyone who has seen the Spreading Santorum site is familiar with the “brown frothy” image on the front page of the ad. The wisdom of using this in an ad is… suspect. Is Santorum being trolled by his own ad men? Or, is this crazy like a fox stuff?

  • Super Bowl Ads Could Become More Political

    How would you feel about seeing a political ad during the Super Bowl? Some people are trying to make that happen.

    Politico is reporting that the game this year has attracted people from anti-abortion camps and sports blackout opponents trying to buy ads in and around the game.

    Traditionally, the game has not been a place where political advertising is allowed. Wendy Melillo, an ad expert and professor at the American University School of Communication said that the only time a political ad has shown up in the Super Bowl has been in the form of “public-service advertising.”

    Presidential candidate Randall Terry tried to get a campaign commercial featuring aborted fetuses on NBC’s Chicago station. It was shot down by the FCC on Friday. He said that other markets would run the ad on Sunday.

    Terry’s attempt at buying ad space was turned back by the FCC because they said that “broadcasters do not have to sell airtime on the Super Bowl to federal candidates.”

    Where Terry failed, other groups are attempting to have their voice heard during the game. Chapters of the Sports Fan Coalition are buying the time around the Super Bowl and in other football programming to push their campaign to get rid of sports blackout rules.

    For those unaware, sports blackout rules in the NFL states that “any broadcaster that has a signal that transmits within a 75-mile radius of an NFL stadium may only broadcast the game if it is a road game, or if the game sells out 72 hours or more before game time.”

    The Sports Fan Coalition learned a lot from the SOPA/PIPA protests this year and are wanting to apply that same power to this issue. They want to make people aware of these blackout laws and cause a public outrage that lawmakers can’t ignore.

    While the game may be politics free now, some people see that as changing in the future. Melillo says that as a culture, we’re making it difficult to avoid anything “too partisan or too political or too religious.”

    The FCC, however, doesn’t think so believing that this year’s push was an “isolated incident.” Buying air time on the Super Bowl is “special” and with all the other companies buying ads, they can’t very well give ad time to federal candidates.

    What do you think? Should political ads be allowed in the Super Bowl? Or should the event stay politics free?