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Spotify Technology is planning to halt its political advertisement selling on its music streaming platform by 2020. The world’s most popular paid music streaming service, with nearly 141 million users tuning into its ad-supported platform in October, said the pause would extend to Spotify original and exclusive podcasts as well.
Spotify said that the decision comes as it doesn’t have the resources to properly vet such ads. Online platforms including Facebook Inc and Alphabet Inc’s Google are under growing pressure to police misinformation on their platforms and stop carrying political ads that contain false or misleading claims. Twitter also banned political ads in October and Google also said it would stop giving advertisers the ability to target election ads using data such as public voter records and general political affiliations.
“At this point in time, we do not yet have the necessary level of robustness in our processes, systems and tools to responsibly validate and review this content,” a Spotify spokeswoman said in a statement to Reuters. She also added that Spotify will reassess this decision as they continue to evolve their capabilities.
“Spotify wasn’t a widely used online advertising platform for campaigns before,” said Eric Wilson, a Republican digital strategist. “But as other online platforms restricted their political ad inventory, advertisers were on the hunt for new options.”
The new policy will cover political groups such as candidates for office, elected and appointed officials, political parties, political action committees (PACs) and Super PACS, as well as content that advocates for or against those entities. Spotify will also not sell ads that advocate for legislative and judicial outcomes.
The move only applies to Spotify’s ad sales, not advertisements embedded in third-party content, though those will still be subject to Spotify’s broader content policies.
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