Political advertising on Google FAQs

 Overview

 

Why are you publishing a report about political advertising?

Google is publishing this report to provide greater transparency in political advertising on Google, YouTube, and partner properties.

Which products are represented in the Political Advertising Transparency Report? 

This report includes ads purchased through Google Ads and Google Display & Video 360. 

What can I expect in the new version of this site?

In the coming weeks, Political advertising on Google will have a new look and will be easier to use. It will also have a new URL because we are consolidating all of our ads transparency efforts in one place, but its mission remains the same.

About advertisers in the report 

 

Which advertisers are included in the Political Advertising Transparency Report? 

Only verified advertisers are included in the report. Learn more about the verification process for advertisers in the Political Content policy. 

Why are some advertisers mentioned multiple times in the Top Advertiser table? 

The Top Advertisers table displays information provided by advertisers for verification. Google works with advertisers to update and remove duplicate entries as soon as possible to ensure accurate reporting in the report. 

Why am I seeing ads paid for by multiple advertisers in the Transparency Report?

Multiple advertisers may appear if there is more than one funding source for an ad.

In the EU report, why do some advertisers appear on multiple country pages?

Some advertisers run ads in more than one EU country. For these advertisers "total ad spend" data in each case is total spend EU-wide.  

Where can I see additional disclosures for California political ads?

Advertisers that complete Google's express notification process for California political ads provide additional disclosure information about their ads. When advertisers provide additional information about particular ads, it appears next to those ads in the report.

Learn more about the Google policy for political advertising in California.

About ads in the Political Advertising Transparency Report 

What ads are included?

Election ads (as defined by the Political content policy) that were paid for by verified election advertisers and shown:

• at least 1 time 

• across Search, Display, YouTube and DV360 in supported ad formats

• since Google started publishing this information (since May 31, 2018 or later depending on region)

Where did ads in the report appear? 

Ads in the Political Advertising Transparency Report appeared on Google, YouTube, and partner properties.

Why can’t I see the content of some ads in the report? 

The content of an ad may not appear if the ad did not comply with Google Ads policies, or when it isn’t available for technical reasons; however, data about the ad remains in the report.

How was the report modified after the United Kingdom left the European Union?

The EU and UK report contains data on election ads run in the EU and the UK since March 21, 2019.  A separate transparency report for the UK with detailed advertiser and spend data will be made available later in 2020.

What targeting criteria can be used for election ads?

In locations where advertiser verification is required to run election ads, only the following audience targeting may be used for election ads:  Geographic location (except radius around a location), age, and gender.

Contextual targeting such as ad placements, topics, keywords against sites, apps, pages and videos is also allowed. 

Why have some ads been labeled with a “Policy Violation”?

Google continuously reviews all ads, including election ads, for compliance with our policies.  Any ad found to be non-compliant is labeled as a “Policy Violation” in our report. We do not externally disclose details of which policies advertisers have violated.

About data in the Political Advertising Transparency Report

 

What is the time frame covered by this report? 

The time frame is based on the launch date of the report for a country or region. 

When does information about an ad appear in the report?

After an ad is shown, it usually takes between 3 to 4 days for information about that ad to appear in the report.

How often is this report updated?

The report is generally updated daily. To ensure integrity and accuracy, updates may be delayed.

What does “impressions” mean? 

“Impressions” is the number of times an ad is shown. All ads in the report have at least one impression. 

How do the start and end date filters work? 

The start and end date filters show ads that received impressions during the specified time frame. The number in parentheses is the number of days that an ad ran.

How is the exchange rate determined for local currencies? 

Ad spend reflects the daily exchange rate between US dollars and the local currency on the date the ad ran.

Is there an API for the ads, or can I download specific ads or a subset of ads? 

The ads are published as a public data set on Google Cloud BigQuery. You can export a subset of the ads or access them programmatically.  

How is total spending determined for a country or region?

Total spending is based on where ads were shown.

How are international borders determined for maps shown in the report?

Google relies on a variety of data providers and cartographic authorities in order to display borders in the most accurate way. Where required, we display borders in compliance with local regulation of the country or countries featured in a political advertising report.

Why might historical data in the report change over time?

Google is continuously reviewing its data and improving its classification of election ads.  As we constantly increase the accuracy of the data in our report, historical data may slightly fluctuate.