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by Paresh Dave
March 23 (Reuters) – Alphabet-owned Google will not help websites, apps and YouTube channels sell ads with content that it exploits, dismisses or condemns the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the US company said on Wednesday .
Google, whose advertising software helps publishers generate revenue, prohibits ads from appearing next to content that incites violence and denies tragic incidents. It is largely applying those policies to the war.
“We can confirm that we are taking additional steps to clarify, and in some cases expand our monetization guidelines as they relate to the war in Ukraine,” said Google spokesman Michael Aciman.
In an email to publishers seen by Reuters, Google said the ads would not run alongside, for example, “claims that victims are responsible for their own tragedy or similar instances of blaming the victims, such as the claim that Ukraine committing genocide or intentionally attacking own citizens.”
Google also blocks ads that take advantage of sensitive events and enforces that policy in combat.
Senior Russian officials say Western media have misrepresented the conflict in Ukraine, which it calls a “special operation” to demilitarize the country.
Russia’s communications regulator had blocked Google’s aggregator service Google News, the Interfax news agency reported on Wednesday, alleging that Russia allows access to fake material about military operations in Ukraine.
Several major Western advertising and social media services have announced new content and payment restrictions around the conflict, including blocking Russian state media RT and Sputnik in the European Union.
Earlier this month, Google said it had stopped selling all online ads in Russia.
(Reporting by Eva Mathews in Bengaluru and Paresh Dave in Oakland, California; Editing by Shailesh Kuber and Rosalba O’Brien)
