As promised, big changes have appeared in the political online advertising realm. To provide greater transparency and to curb foreign influence over elections, several online services are instituting changes. Some have already gone into effect, with more on the way.
Here is a quick primer of what has gone into effect as of the end of May, 2018.
Facebook is now requiring US users who are running election-related, referendum or issue ads to provide personal information about themselves. Users who want to buy political ads will also have to verify their mailing address. Any ads that mention a political candidate will have to adhere to these rules. And ads that qualify will have a “paid for by” tag and will be placed in a political ad archive.
Below is a video describing the Facebook authorization process for political candidates and organizations who wish to advertise on the platform:
Twitter no longer accepts political ads as of November 2019. Guess that makes it simple…
Google is rolling out changes as well. Starting this summer, Google will require any individual or organization that wants to purchase an election ad on Google or YouTube to provide information confirming that they are a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident. Google will also require all election ads to display a disclosure that identifies who has paid for the ad.
As of November, 2019, Google has severely restricted how political campaigns can directly target through ad campaigns. Campaigns will still be able to target ads based on users’ age, gender, location and the content of websites users have visited. But now they cannot direct their ads through specific audience attributes, such as political affiliation or public voting records. Campaigns are no longer allowed to microtarget ads to people’s specific data and behavior.
What does this mean for your campaign?
Campaign advertising is becoming more complicated, especially if you are running for federal office. If you are planning on running online ads across these platforms, we recommend that you create your profiles and certify your campaign on these platforms early. Start early, as it may take days or even weeks for your organization to be certified. If you wait, you may not be able to run ads when you need them.
A few campaigns lost the opportunity to advertise as new political advertising rules came into play right before their elections.
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