In an effort to promote a more democratic election, Google has taken a tough stance on political ads it allows. The company says it will now top advertisers from creating targeted ads based on political leanings of users based on public voter records. Google’s new policy has already been effective. During the summer, Google and YouTube removed over 300 ads focused on Trump. According to the search giant, the ads were “violating company policy”. According to a report on 60 Minutes, YouTube has clamped down on some Trump ads. Speaking to the show, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki discussed ads the platform has removed: “There are ads of President Trump that were not approved to run on Google or YouTube.”
While Wojcicki did not offer specific examples, she said all the information is “available in our transparency report”. Looking at YouTube’s transparency report, over 300 Trump ads are listed as being removed. The report does not say which rules were violated but it does show the ads were live for just a few days before being pulled down. It is worth noting that during those days, the ad companies were paying Google for hosting their ads.
Microsoft Edge NewsGuard Tool
Microsoft has been making its own strides towards combatting fake news. Earlier this year, the company introduced an ElectionGuard add-in within Microsoft Edge. Darren Laybourn, Corporate Vice President of Microsoft News described how the company prevents fake news on its service. Laybourn says Microsoft uses an 800-strong team of employees around the world to curate content. He adds the company is leveraging machine learning and AI to help with finding fake news.
