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Google political ad ban ‘symbolic rather than creating impact’ – Namfrel chief

Ralf Rivas

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Google political ad ban ‘symbolic rather than creating impact’ – Namfrel chief
Google is banning political ads for the upcoming 2022 elections. Experts, however, note that politicians are already rushing to spend ahead of the official campaign period.

MANILA, Philippines – Google’s recent decision not to accept election ads during the Philippine campaign period in 2022 may not create enough impact toward a fairer elections, National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) secretary general Eric Alvia said.

“It’s more symbolic, rather than creating an impact,” Alvia told Rappler columnist John Nery in the latest episode of On The Campaign Trail.

Google said that it will ban political advertising purchased through Google Ads, Display, and Video 360, as well as shopping platforms that advertisers intend to place on Google, YouTube, and partner properties.

While Alvia acknowledged the tech giant’s efforts, such as “sending a message that they won’t use those algorithms that they usually do during this critical juncture,” he noted that the ban will only take effect on February 2022. 

Politicians have also started front loading spending on advertising before the ban and official campaign period.

Google political ad ban ‘symbolic rather than creating impact’ – Namfrel chief

Jay Bautista, managing director of media monitoring and analytics company Kantar, also said that while it’s a “good start” in showing Filipinos it is a responsible company, politicians still have plenty of time to place ads and have various ways to skirt obstacles.

For instance, politicians, and even supporters, can still create YouTube channels to push for videos about candidates.

Bautista noted that Google is the third most used platform based on Kantar’s tracking, just behind social media giant Facebook and local news sites in terms of carrying political advocacies.

Facebook’s move

While Google already took concrete steps, Facebook has yet to follow.

According to Kantar’s monitoring, 50% of early political campaigning are done on Facebook. 

Facebook, however, has a feature where the public can check how much candidates have already spent on advertising on the platform.

Google political ad ban ‘symbolic rather than creating impact’ – Namfrel chief

“I think as far as Facebook is concerned, unless there’s backlash or clamor to follow footsteps of Google, they might just wait and see and sort of monitor the situation if their current policy of transparency of public spending is already acceptable to the public,” Bautista said. – Rappler.com

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Ralf Rivas

A sociologist by heart, a journalist by profession. Ralf is Rappler's business reporter, covering macroeconomy, government finance, companies, and agriculture.