The Trump campaign were regular buyers of the YouTube masthead ad space
(Picture: Getty Images)YouTube will no longer allow political advertisements to “take over” its homepage - after Donald Trump did so in the run-up to the election that he later lied about and said was rigged.
The platform announced plans which mean that politicians will not be able to purchase the coveted spot for their campaigns again.
It will be a huge blow to politicians as the advertising space, known as a masthead ad unit, is highly “sought after.”
This is because the masthead is the first thing viewer see when arriving to the site - it’s the large rectangle space at the top of the webpage.
So when a video or website is advertised on the platform’s masthead, it can hugely increase the volume of traffic and number of views.
However, it’s not just political ads that will be banned.
Other ads for gambling, alcohol sales, prescription drugs will also not be promoted on the homepage either, Axios reported.
Election ads and advertisements for political candidates’ campaigns cannot run ads in YouTube’s masthead whatsoever.
YouTube has said that it will view ads on certain issues which are “political in nature,” on a case-by-case basis.
During the 2020 election campaign, the Trump campaign was a regular purchaser of the advertising space, which proved to be controversial for the platform.
It included the Trump campaign purchasing the masthead during the Democratic Party convention in August.
The Trump campaign has bought a @YouTube homepage takeover for the duration of the @DemConvention, costing around $500k a day. pic.twitter.com/s9PyfRY5iS
— Who Targets Me (@WhoTargetsMe) August 18, 2020
YouTube announced it was updating their masthead ad unit policy just before the 2020 elections, in November.
The company said it would remove the option for advertisers to take over the homepage with a masthead ad for a whole day.
But, just one week before the 2020 presidential election, the Trump campaign still managed to buy the masthead for an entire day, spending around $2 million to secure the spot.
The purchase was made before the change in policy was enforced.
Trump Campaign Takes Over YouTube Homepage for 24 Hours One Week from Election https://t.co/hPr3w2E9Zr
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) October 27, 2020
Other people also began to notice Trump’s frequent advertising whenever they were on YouTube’s homepage during this period.
Trump campaign is using their Youtube homepage takeover to promote the Barstool interview lol pic.twitter.com/kwzeW5Tcch
— Tom Bunting (@tomhbunting) August 24, 2020
very interesting that @YouTube was willing to take the Trump campaign's money to run this strange -- and impossible to ignore -- anti-Biden ad on the homepage for all to see. it autoplays audio and everything, even with ad blockers, and it poke's at Biden's cognitive abilities: pic.twitter.com/CgsjbuBoYe
— j.d. durkin (@jiveDurkey) August 19, 2020
Hey @YouTube, why is it every time I’ve opened my app this week I’ve seen a different Trump ad pinned to the top of my homepage? As you can see by my suggested searches, I am not the target audience for these so it just comes across as your company supporting Trump.
— Talli Buchanan (@talli_approved) November 3, 2020
Please stop. pic.twitter.com/BYF3bPdkEW
Pretty jarring to see YouTube's homepage covered in Trump ads on Election Day. His campaign spent around $2 million to book today's full advertising slot.
— Jesselyn Cook (@JessReports) November 3, 2020
Starting next year, YouTube says advertisers won't be allowed to do this: https://t.co/YKnZuHZNNN pic.twitter.com/0nuIB23KUT
However, this was not a one-time election strategy since Trump’s campaign used similar advertising tactics on YouTube back during the 2016 presidential election.
Donald Trump has bought the homepage of YouTube with a #yuge bio ad. Such spots run into the six-figures, depending on how long they run. pic.twitter.com/IwytuYw3zH
— Shane Goldmacher (@ShaneGoldmacher) September 27, 2016
With Trump considering a presidential re-election run in 2024 - it looks like he is going to have to find somewhere else to plaster his campaign ads.
