Google has decided to suspend user-tailored online ads during Israeli elections, the Globes business journal reports, as part of its bid to avoid being used for targeted advertising by parties looking to manipulate voters in elections around the world.
Israeli advertising companies were notified of the change early this week, the report says. The notice informed them that no targeted advertising would be allowed until after Israel’s election day on April 9.
The move comes amid growing anxiety worldwide over efforts by state parties to manipulate elections by distributing fake news reports that confirm biases or radicalize political debates using the targeted advertising tools of major online companies like Google and Facebook.
The company also plans to identify political ads targeting Israelis that are purchased overseas, and to make their cost and target audiences open to public scrutiny and available in an open archive for seven years.
The move leaves Facebook as the last major remaining online advertising medium that can be used for such mass-manipulation, Globes says.
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From the Liveblog of
Thursday, February 7, 2019
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