TL;DR Summary of Google’s 2025 EU Political Content Policy Update for Ads
Optimixed’s Overview: Comprehensive Changes to EU Political Advertising Rules on Google Ads
Key Updates to Google Ads Political Content Policy in the European Union
Google announced a significant policy update effective September 2025 that introduces strict regional restrictions on political advertising across its platforms in the European Union. This move aligns with the new EU Regulation 2024/900, aiming to regulate and limit political ads to reduce undue influence on democratic processes.
What Ads Are Restricted?
- Political advertising by or on behalf of political actors, including parties, alliances, elected officials, candidates, campaign organizations, or representatives.
- Ads designed to influence the outcome of elections, referendums, voting behavior, or legislative/regulatory processes at any EU governance level.
- Ads featuring political parties, coalitions, officeholders, candidates for EU Parliament or national offices, referendum questions, or referendum campaigns.
Who Is Considered a Political Actor?
Under the regulation, a political actor includes:
- Political parties and related entities
- Political alliances and European political parties
- Elected officials and candidates at EU, national, regional, or local levels
- Members of EU institutions (with specific exceptions)
- Political campaign organizations
- Representatives or agents promoting political objectives of the above
Permitted Ads and Application Process
Only ads from official EU or Member State sources that strictly provide election participation information or official public communication without aiming to influence outcomes will be allowed, subject to a successful application and verification process.
Additional Policy Requirements and Transparency Changes
- Self-Declaration: Advertisers must declare their intent to run political ads starting mid-August 2025.
- Transparency Reports: The EU Political Ads Transparency report will be discontinued, but existing election ad data will remain accessible in the Ads Transparency Center.
- Verification: Advertisers verified to run EU Election Ads will be transitioned into Google’s Advertiser verification program.
- Enforcement: Violations of the policy will incur warnings at least 7 days prior to any account suspension.
This update represents a major shift in how political messaging is regulated on Google’s advertising platforms within the EU, enhancing transparency and accountability while limiting political advertising to official communications only.
