Google has revealed that it will stop displaying political ads to users in the European Union next year, citing concerns over the EU’s upcoming Transparency and Targeting of Political Advertising (TTPA) regulations. In a recent blog post, Google explained that the new rules, which aim to curb election interference and inform voters, present major “operational challenges and legal uncertainties.”
The tech giant raised concerns about the TTPA’s broad definition of political advertising, which makes it difficult to pinpoint what content should be restricted across different EU regions. With the TTPA set to take effect in October 2025, Google plans to halt political ads before then and will provide more details about the timing of this decision next year.
For example, the TTPA defines political advertising so broadly that it could cover ads related to an extremely wide range of issues that would be difficult to reliably identify at scale. There is also a lack of reliable local election data permitting consistent and accurate identification of all ads related to any local, regional or national election across any of 27 EU Member States. And key technical guidance may not be finalized until just months before the regulation comes into effect.
– Annette Kroeber-Riel, Vice President, Government Affairs and Public Policy for Europe, November 2024
The new TTPA regulations will demand that online political ads be clearly labeled, providing details like whether an ad is targeted, who’s funding it, the amount paid, and which election or referendum it’s linked to. Ad providers will also need explicit user consent for targeted political ads and won’t be allowed to use data from minors or certain personal information. Additionally, the change will ban paid political promotions on YouTube that fall under the EU’s political ad transparency rules.
Google argues it has already taken significant steps to regulate political ads, such as enhancing transparency requirements with identity verification and clear in-ad disclosures about who funded each ad.
This isn’t the first time Google has pulled political ads from a region due to regulatory challenges. Over the past three years, it’s made similar moves in France, Canada, and Brazil.
Also, this isn’t the first time Google has clashed with the EU’s laws, adjusting how it offers services – or even halting them altogether – in the region. A recent example is the test Google launched to comply with the European Copyright Directive (EUCD), where it stopped showing news content from EU publishers, essentially demonstrating how much traffic they’d lose without Google.
Now, with the new political ad rules, Google is choosing to stop showing political ads altogether. Overall, it looks like the company just doesn’t want to deal with the legal headaches this new situation could bring.
