YouTube Bans Advertising Related To Alcohol, Drugs, Politics, And Gambling

The so-called masthead ad is the most expensive advertising space on YouTube videos, which is of course due to the fact that the header banner is more visible on the homepage than any other ad on the popular video page. But in the future, there will be significant restrictions on who can advertise there.

Advertising is by far the most important business for Google, so you are sometimes not always completely consistent when it comes to accepting ad subjects. Or rather, the Californian search engine and advertising giant can slip an ad through.

As Axios reports, YouTube will with immediate effect exclude certain advertisements or topics and products from this area, including alcohol, gambling, prescription drugs as well as election advertising and political ads.

Specifically, Google bans advertising for offline and online gambling, including sports betting and casino games, such as poker. In the case of alcohol, sales are primarily addressed, but one may no longer advertise corresponding alcoholic beverages that are not explicitly or directly related to sales.

Political ads on a case-by-case basis

Political advertising has nuances in the new regulations: Direct advertisements that speak out in favor of certain parties or candidates are prohibited. Advertisements that are to be viewed as political in the broader sense, i.e. that address certain topics, should be decided on a case-by-case basis.

This does not mean that these advertisements or topics are categorically prohibited on YouTube, only that they are excluded from the most prominent place. Google has since confirmed the move, saying, “We believe this update builds on the changes we made to the masthead reservation over the past year and will result in a better user experience.”