Google bars elections ads from using political leanings, voter data

Alphabet Inc’s Google will stop giving advertisers the ability to target election ads using data such as public voter records and general political affiliations, the company said in a blog post on Wednesday. The move coincides with pressure on social media platforms over their handling of political advertising ahead of the U.S. presidential election in 2020. Google said it would limit audience targeting for election ads to age, gender and general location at a postal code level. Political advertisers also can still contextually target, such as serving ads to people reading about a certain topic.