Google is introducing a searchable Political Ads Library in India along with a country-specific political advertising transparency report in an effort to bring more transparency to online election ads ahead of the Lok Sabha Elections.
The company said the political ad database along with the report will go live in March 2019 and will provide information on who is purchasing election ads on its platforms and how much money is being spent on these ads among others.
The Internet giant will verify the identity and eligibility of advertisers before running their respective election ads on its platforms, with the advertiser verification process starting from February 14, 2019.
Advertisers will also have to submit a ‘pre-certificate’ issued by the Election Commission of India (ECI) or anyone authorized by the ECI for every election ad they intend to run.
Google will shortly start showing a “Paid for by” disclosure with the name of the organization or individual on all election ads using the information provided during the verification process.
The Mountain View-headquartered tech giant had first introduced its political ad directory in the United States in August last year, along with a report that showed ad spends by US states, advertisers and top keywords across its platforms.
In addition, Google will also make electoral information from the Election Commission of India and other authoritative sources easily discoverable on its search engine, the company said in a statement.
“We’re thinking hard about elections and how we continue to support democratic processes in India and around the world. In line with this, we are bringing more transparency to election advertising online, and surfacing relevant information to help people better navigate the electoral process” said Chetan Krishnaswamy, Director – Public Policy, Google India.
Rival Facebook had introduced similar norms for political ads in the country in December last year and plans to launch a searchable election ad library next month.
The social networking giant is also embarking on an offline process to verify identity and locations of political advertisers in the country, ET reported in December last year.
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