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Spotify: We're Hitting 'Pause' on Political Ads in 2020

Spotify, the world's most popular music streaming service, will no longer serve political advertisements in the United States. Politics ads won't appear in 2020, but Spotify hopes to introduce them at a later time.

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Political advertisements are disappearing from Spotify early next year, Ad Age reports.

The ad-supported tier and Spotify's original programming will no longer serve ads designed by elected officials, candidates, and organizations. Spotify didn't offer a clear explanation, but the Finnish company admitted that its technology needs to properly monitor political ads before distributing them in the United States. Elsewhere in the world, Spotify does not run any political ads.

Third-party podcasts, however, may continue rolling out episodes with embedded political ads. Spotify just reminds creators to adhere to its content policy per usual.

"At this point in time, we do not yet have the necessary level of robustness in our process, systems and tools to responsibly validate and review this content," Spotify said in a statement. "We will reassess this decision as we continue to evolve our capabilities."

Popular advertisers on Spotify shut out due to this ban include Senator Bernie Sanders (D-VT) and the Republic National Committee. Sources told Ad Age that the platform doesn't generate significant revenue off political ads; however, the ban will undoubtedly deliver a blow to the advertisers who look to Spotify's user base of young listeners. Ads attached to music and podcasts might perform better than TV and radio ads.

In recent months, other technology companies took similar action. Twitter stopped running political ads on its platform in late October, and Google has decided to limit them on both Search and YouTube. By banning or at least limiting political ads, these companies hope to protect user data.

Spotify did not share when it expects political ads to return. With a lot at stake in the 2020 United States presidential election, don't be surprised if Spotify waits until 2021 to reintroduce the feature to advertisers. It could steer clear of potential controversy by pulling political ads from the platform through the entirety of 2020.

About Our Expert

Justin Herrick

Justin Herrick

Freelancer

Justin is easily attracted to power buttons. His interest in technology started as a child in the 1990s with the original PlayStation, and two decades later he can't keep his hands off the latest gadgets. His work has appeared in TechnoBuffalo, Talk Android, Business Insider, and other award-winning publications. If you're interested in his latest ramblings, drop Justin a follow on Twitter @JustHerrick and Instagram.

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