Google to ban ads appearing next to climate denial content

Google is taking action to stop climate change deniers from spreading misinformation or making money

Google-Flight Emissions Tracker (Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Google is taking action to stop climate change deniers from spreading misinformation or making money by blocking digital ads promoting false climate change claims from appearing alongside content on its platforms.

The company said Thursday in a blog post that it was rolling out a new policy for YouTube video creators. advertisers and publishers.

The new rules “will prohibit ads for, and monetization of, content that contradicts well-established scientific consensus around the existence and causes of climate change,” the blog post said.

The rules will apply to any content calling climate change a hoax or denying that greenhouse gas emissions and human activity have contributed to the earth's long-term warming.

“In recent years, we’ve heard directly from a growing number of our advertising and publisher partners who have expressed concerns about ads that run alongside or promote inaccurate claims about climate change,” Google's ad team said.

The company said advertisers don’t want their ads appearing next to content denying climate change, and publishers and creators don’t want them appearing on their pages or videos.

Google said it would use both automated tools and human reviewers to enforce the policy when it takes effect in November.

Earlier this week, Google rolled out new features aimed at helping users reduce their carbon footprints, including a search function that shows which flights have lower emissions.