As the nation is inching closer to elect a new Parliament – the General Elections 2019 – Google in a move to make more transparent system has rolled out new advertisement policy of Political campaigns. The updated election ads policy will require advertisers to provide a “pre-certificate” issued by the Election Commission of India (ECI) or anyone authorised by the ECI, for each ad they wish to run.
The California based global company would then verify the identity of individual advertisers before their election ads run appear anywhere on Google’s platform. Google said that the verification process for the election ads in India would begin on February 14, 2019. Google keeping in mind the upcoming Lok Sabha Polls is also planning to launch an India-specific “Political Advertising Transparency” report and searchable “Political Ads Library” in March.
Additionally, Users can also see who has spent behind the advertisement. The company will show a ‘Paid for by’ label on top of the political ad. “In addition to the Transparency Report and Ads Library, election ads on Google platforms will also disclose who has paid for the ad.
“These will provide comprehensive information about who is purchasing election ads on our platforms and how much money is being spent,” Google India’s Public Policy Director Chetan Krishnaswamy wrote in a blog post.
Google became the second tech giant after Facebook in December announced fresh steps to increase ad transparency and defend against foreign interference ahead of the 2019 polls. Prior to this Facebook, the largest social networking site tightened advertisement rules for political advertising ahead of general elections