Microsoft is updating its advertising policies for its search engine, Bing, on ads that run under its advertising service, Bing Ads.
Responding to changing regulations in different states across the US, Bing will be banning political candidate and ballot measure advertising. Announcing the changes, Bing’s Kya Sainsbury-Carter explained the changing legal landscape, blaming the rapidly changing environment for making it complex to correctly adhere to all laws:
In recent months, regulators from states across the country have taken new steps to bring additional transparency and accountability to political advertising. We support these regulators and their crucial work on important issues. The regulatory environment for political candidate and ballot measure advertising is likely to continue to evolve rapidly in the coming months, making it complex to adhere with precision. As result, we have made the decision to disallow political candidate and ballot measure ads in the United States.
Any new ads that are for political candidates or ballot measure will not be approved, and Bing’s compliance team is working to end any current advertisements in these categories. The company doesn’t expect these changes to affect revenue much, as they represent a small proportion of all advertising across the Bing network.
