Google’s Plan to Curb Misinformation Ahead of US Midterm Elections

In the coming weeks, Google plans to launch tools that highlight local and regional journalism covering political campaigns and races. This comes as an initiative to provide more accurate and trustworthy information ahead of the November elections. These tools will be launched on Google’s search platform and YouTube. Political advertisers–who are not cash-strapped in times…

Google’s Plan to Curb Misinformation Ahead of US Midterm Elections

In the coming weeks, Google plans to launch tools that highlight local and regional journalism covering political campaigns and races. This comes as an initiative to provide more accurate and trustworthy information ahead of the November elections. These tools will be launched on Google’s search platform and YouTube. Political advertisers–who are not cash-strapped in times…

Can Political Advertising Weather a Recession?

You may have seen the advertising already: politicians in state primaries jockeying for a spot on the November ballot. While not quite recession-proof, political advertising is more insulated from the adverse impacts of an economic downturn than other sectors, according to five insiders who spoke with Adweek. Politicians, parties and causes see a near-continuous flow…

Facebook Loses Its Luster for Some Political Advertisers

For more than a decade many political campaigns were fought, and won, on Facebook. But during the 2022 midterm election cycle political media buyers are lessening their investment on the platform. This is partly due to increased difficulty in targeting relevant voters with ads–both from new company policies and challenges Meta’s ad tech has faced…

Marketing Morsels: RIP Chaco Taco, Cheesecake Candles and More

Welcome to Marketing Morsels, a menu of delightful (and in this case, tragic) news items from the past week. Enjoy the assortment! Morsel #1: RIP, Choco Taco Klondike and parent company Unilever announced this week that they are discontinuing the beloved Choco Taco following “an unprecedented spike in demand across our portfolio” that resulted in…

Google Updates Its Political Ads Policy

Google announced changes to its political content policy ads for audio and video. The changes have different requirements for ads based on region. Some, including the U.S, U.K, India, Australia and Israel, have additional requirements. Top line The updated policy, for most ad formats, mandates a disclosure called “Paid for by.” These ad formats include:…

Pew Research Center Shares 5 Key Facts About Political Tweets

Pew Research Center mined data from its survey of 2,548 U.S. adult Twitter users in May 2021 about their experiences on the social network, as well as how they engage with politics outside of Twitter, and it shared five key facts. Computational social scientists Samuel Bestvater and Sono Shah explained in the report’s introduction, “In…

Pew Research Center: One-Third of Tweets From US Adults Are Political

Political content being prevalent on Twitter probably doesn’t come as much of a surprise, but the extent to which it is prevalent might. A recent study by Pew Research Center found that one-third of tweets from adults in the U.S. are political in nature. The think tank arrived at its findings via a May 2021…

Meta Updates Transparency Efforts on Social Issue, Electoral, Political Ads

Meta detailed updates Monday related to its transparency tools for social issue, electoral and political ads, which will apply to all countries where the company’s ad authorizations and disclaimer tools are in place. Detailed targeting information for social issue, electoral and political ads will be made available to vetted academic researchers at the end of…

Meta Updates Location Targeting Options to Reflect Redrawn US Congressional Districts

Meta updated its location targeting options to reflect the redrawn congressional districts in the U.S. that resulted from the 2020 Census. Neil Shrimanker of Meta’s business integrity and elections integrity team explained in a blog post that all updated congressional districts will be reflected across all of Meta’s ads interfaces, including the Ads API (application-programming…

Pew: Fewer Americans Want More Government Regulation of Big Tech Companies

While a healthy chunk of adults in the U.S. still believe there should be more government regulation of major technology platforms, those numbers are dropping, while the reverse is true for those who want to see less government regulation, according to a new study from Pew Research Center. Research associate Emily A. Vogels wrote in…

Pew: Politics Doesn’t Often Make Its Way Onto the Profiles of Twitter Users

Discussion about politics and breaking political news have become cornerstones of how Twitter is used over the years, but the biography information people include in their profiles on the social network rarely reflects that, according to a new study from Pew Research Center. The think tank’s analysis of the Twitter handles of 1,021 survey respondents…

Hooligans Agency Brings Hollywood Tactics to Political Ads

You hear them loudly this time of year. They yell at you. They sling mud. They annoy. And many of them turn people off. They’re political ads, and they’re difficult to ignore. But a relatively new agency is trying to change how people think about political advertising, adding doses of performance and theatrics gleaned from…

Need a Politician’s Attention? MSCHF Will Turn Your Concerns Into Letters From Kids

Between growing public health concerns, the onslaught of anti-trans and queerphobic legislations and an international war, let’s face it: there’s a lot for concerned citizens to worry about these days. With each pressing social issue, we’re urged to hop on the phone with our local and state politicians. Unfortunately, it can be incredibly difficult to…

The EU Takes Another Jab at Big Tech With Flagship Digital Markets Act

In the last 12 hours, EU officials have agreed on two landmark rules: the Digital Markets Act and the revival of the transatlantic deal with the U.S. Thursday night, EU negotiators from the European Parliament and the Council finished legislation that aims to rein in the global digital market dominance by the world’s largest tech…

UK Online Safety Bill Puts Internet Ad Scams Under Microscope

The U.K. government announced additional amendments to the scope of the Online Safety Bill this week, this time drawing measures to protect people from advertising scams. Top line The bill mandates that social media companies including Instagram, Facebook and Twitter–as well as search engines like Google–protect people from both prepaid fraudulent ads and user-generated scams….

Donald Trump’s Truth Social Endures Bumpy Presidents’ Day Weekend Debut

It was a mixed Presidents’ Day weekend debut for Truth Social, the new social platform from former President Donald Trump. While the application soared to the top spot among free apps on Apple’s App Store (it is not yet available for Android), the process was littered with roadblocks to entry including error messages and placing…

Dove Ad Reminds All That Discrimination Against Black Hair Starts ‘As Early As Five’

According to the Dove 2021 CROWN Research Study for Girls, 53% of Black mothers in the U.S. who have daughters who have experienced hair discrimination endured it as early as five years old. The same study suggests that approximately 86% of Black teens who have experienced it did so by the age of twelve. In…

LinkedIn: How to Stop Seeing Political Content

LinkedIn is testing a feature that will allow users to stop seeing political content in their feed, The Wall Street Journal reported. Our guide will show you how to check whether you have this feature available and, if so, how to activate it. Note: These screenshots were captured in the LinkedIn application on iOS. Step…

Lebanese Newspaper Skips an Issue to Donate Paper and Ink to Maintain Election

To support the Lebanese election taking place, daily newspaper AnNahar chose not to print one issue for the first time in its 88-year history, donating its paper and ink to print ballots instead. With the election scheduled for May 15, government officials have begun to highlight a lack of supplies which could have threatened Lebanon’s…