If you’ve been getting tired of the election advertisement bombardment, then hang on just a little bit more – Google Philippines has just announced that it will no longer accept election ads during the official campaign period starting February 8 until May 9, 2022. This ban applies to any election advertisements purchased through Google Ads, Display and Video 360, and other advertising platforms related to Google and its platforms. That means that there are only around 2 months before we no longer have to sit through political campaigns preceding our favorite YouTube videos.
This 2022 Google Philippines election ads ban encompasses any material regarding political parties and individuals, no matter the political bent. The search giant has previously banned political ads on its platform in other countries before, like during Canada’s Federal Elections in 2019, as well as Singapore’s National Elections in 2020.
“Google is focusing its efforts and resources on upcoming election-related initiatives which aim to help people access useful and accurate information via product features and media literacy programs, encourage participation in the voting process, and help protect the integrity of the elections,” company said in a release.
According to Google, the reason behind this is to educate the public to participate in the voting process and to help protect the integrity of the elections. Via its various product features and media literacy programs such as COMELEC’s #MagpaRehistroKa program, MullenLowe TREYNA, and Dashboard Philippines, the company’s goal is to fight the spread of misinformation. Google also launched the #YOUTHink magazine in both English and Cebuano in partnership with CANVAS to achieve their unified goal for the elections, as well as promote local languages and dialects.
The digital space is the new battleground for politicians both new and old and was a key factor in President Rodrigo Duterte’s rise to power, and was a key component in the administration’s efforts to consolidate power during the 2019 mid-term elections.
