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After living in 2 EU countries and the UK for decades, I don't think I've ever seen a political ad on any Google product (and even overall?). It's probably a v

After living in 2 EU countries and the UK for decades, I don't think I've ever seen a political ad on any Google product (and even overall?). It's probably a very minor impact to Google's ad bottom line.

seumars 2y ago
Same here. I also wonder who would even target their political ads at european audiences.
- cj 2y ago
  EU countries have elections, too.
  - PoignardAzur 2y ago
    I don't know what various countries' norms are, but if people aren't used to political ads and are generally suspicious of the concept, an ad may have negative utility. I know if I saw a paid ad for a candidate that would make me want to vote against them.
    - Aardwolf 2y ago
      Paper flyers in your mailbox, and billboards in people's gardens, are some age-old and very common forms of advertisement during elections I've seen in multiple countries in Europe
      - Mashimo 2y ago
        Interesting. Where are billboards on private property common? I mostly see them on tv, public billboards and light poles.
        hsbauauvhabzb 2y ago
        Australia small signs (100cmx50cm size) are common. Billboards you’d see down a commercial street are probably private property and often are political also.
        Aardwolf 2y ago
        Here's an example: https://img.nieuwsblad.be/vXdqo10D824EJ6p5Ab4IBfARaZs=/960x640/smart/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.nieuwsblad.be%2FAssets%2FImages_Upload%2F2019%2F05%2F23%2F28ee31b3-8d1f-4099-b563-0b9d49a7733b_web_scale_0.0666667_0.0666667__.jpg https://img.nieuwsblad.be/vXdqo10D824EJ6p5Ab4IBfARaZs=/960x6...
      - baud147258 2y ago
        At least in France I don't think I've seen either of those. More common are poster stuck on public infrastructure
        PoignardAzur 2y ago
        There's a bunch of strictly regulated ad formats. Each party gets one "metal billboard" poster and I think one TV spot and that's it. The most common form of political advertising by volume is probably unauthorized propaganda posters on public infrastructure, yeah. Those are annoying. Also stickers on traffic light poles and similar places.
      - gorbypark 2y ago
        In Spain we get nicely labeled "Political Propaganda" in the mail around election time. I think by law each party can send you one letter, and it has to have the "Political Propaganda" text on the outside. It's pretty nice in that I can throw it all straight into the recycling bin!
  - ben_w 2y ago
    Not sure about the EU-27, but the UK has rules about election ads, to the extent that Cambridge Analytica was a scandal. Some of that scandal was due to bribery and offering prostitutes, but even the aspects that were purely what is considered "normal" for targeting online advertising was unacceptable by UK political standards. That said, part of the latter being scandalous assumes that they were actually capable of providing the service they claimed, which is something I find myself increasingly unable to believe due to how wildly badly I get categorised by the main advertising platforms — nationality, country of residence, language, gender, all wrong.
- mathverse 2y ago
  What? We mostly get political ads in CEE region as most of the products or services being sold here are not applicable anyway.
1oooqooq 2y ago
exactly. they already cannot show ads on EU because of regulations... not that they wouldn't, but campaign managers abide to the regulations and don't go to google. so what google does? spin it as a holier than thou campaign to try to offset the dumpster fire that is the very lucrative US campaign ads they do profit handsomely from. "look over here, not over there". so boring. also, their jobs site have tons of lobbyist positions on DC ;)
carpenecopinum 2y ago
In a roughly two-week window of not having adblock enabled, I have seen a ton of "politics-adjacent" ads in Germany. They'd usually start off with something that will get right-wing nuts excited ("This Green Party politician ruined their career, learn more.") and will then pivot to some crypto-scam. I'm wondering if those will be affected by the new ban as well, or if crypto scams aren't political enough to apply.
- kurayashi 2y ago
  Closer to an election you will also see ads from actual political parties. I’ve mostly noticed them from CDU and AfD, sometimes the greens.

seumars 2y ago

Same here. I also wonder who would even target their political ads at european audiences.

cj 2y ago
EU countries have elections, too.
- PoignardAzur 2y ago
  I don't know what various countries' norms are, but if people aren't used to political ads and are generally suspicious of the concept, an ad may have negative utility. I know if I saw a paid ad for a candidate that would make me want to vote against them.
  - Aardwolf 2y ago
    Paper flyers in your mailbox, and billboards in people's gardens, are some age-old and very common forms of advertisement during elections I've seen in multiple countries in Europe
    - Mashimo 2y ago
      Interesting. Where are billboards on private property common? I mostly see them on tv, public billboards and light poles.
      - hsbauauvhabzb 2y ago
        Australia small signs (100cmx50cm size) are common. Billboards you’d see down a commercial street are probably private property and often are political also.
      - Aardwolf 2y ago
        Here's an example: https://img.nieuwsblad.be/vXdqo10D824EJ6p5Ab4IBfARaZs=/960x640/smart/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.nieuwsblad.be%2FAssets%2FImages_Upload%2F2019%2F05%2F23%2F28ee31b3-8d1f-4099-b563-0b9d49a7733b_web_scale_0.0666667_0.0666667__.jpg https://img.nieuwsblad.be/vXdqo10D824EJ6p5Ab4IBfARaZs=/960x6...
    - baud147258 2y ago
      At least in France I don't think I've seen either of those. More common are poster stuck on public infrastructure
      - PoignardAzur 2y ago
        There's a bunch of strictly regulated ad formats. Each party gets one "metal billboard" poster and I think one TV spot and that's it. The most common form of political advertising by volume is probably unauthorized propaganda posters on public infrastructure, yeah. Those are annoying. Also stickers on traffic light poles and similar places.
    - gorbypark 2y ago
      In Spain we get nicely labeled "Political Propaganda" in the mail around election time. I think by law each party can send you one letter, and it has to have the "Political Propaganda" text on the outside. It's pretty nice in that I can throw it all straight into the recycling bin!
- ben_w 2y ago
  Not sure about the EU-27, but the UK has rules about election ads, to the extent that Cambridge Analytica was a scandal. Some of that scandal was due to bribery and offering prostitutes, but even the aspects that were purely what is considered "normal" for targeting online advertising was unacceptable by UK political standards. That said, part of the latter being scandalous assumes that they were actually capable of providing the service they claimed, which is something I find myself increasingly unable to believe due to how wildly badly I get categorised by the main advertising platforms — nationality, country of residence, language, gender, all wrong.
mathverse 2y ago
What? We mostly get political ads in CEE region as most of the products or services being sold here are not applicable anyway.

1oooqooq 2y ago

exactly. they already cannot show ads on EU because of regulations... not that they wouldn't, but campaign managers abide to the regulations and don't go to google. so what google does? spin it as a holier than thou campaign to try to offset the dumpster fire that is the very lucrative US campaign ads they do profit handsomely from. "look over here, not over there". so boring. also, their jobs site have tons of lobbyist positions on DC ;)

carpenecopinum 2y ago

In a roughly two-week window of not having adblock enabled, I have seen a ton of "politics-adjacent" ads in Germany. They'd usually start off with something that will get right-wing nuts excited ("This Green Party politician ruined their career, learn more.") and will then pivot to some crypto-scam. I'm wondering if those will be affected by the new ban as well, or if crypto scams aren't political enough to apply.

kurayashi 2y ago
Closer to an election you will also see ads from actual political parties. I’ve mostly noticed them from CDU and AfD, sometimes the greens.