Alphabet Inc’s YouTube will no longer allow political or election ads in its coveted masthead spot at the top of the site’s homepage, nor ads for alcohol, gambling and prescription drugs, it has said.
In an email to advertisers, seen by Reuters, YouTube said the change built on its move last year to retire all full-day masthead ads. It said it has retired these full-day reservations, like the one then-President Donald Trump reserved to dominate its homepage on Election Day 2020, and replaced them with more targeted formats.
“We regularly review our advertising requirements to ensure they balance the needs of both advertisers and users,” a Google spokesperson said in an emailed statement, “We believe this update will build on changes we made last year to the masthead reservation process and will lead to a better experience for users.”
Google said that the change to its most prominent ad unit, which was first reported by Axios, was effective immediately, a Reuters report stated.
Google paused political ads altogether around the US presidential election and again ahead of President Joe Biden’s inauguration in January this year, citing its policy over sensitive events.
Sunil Mittal says OneWeb ahead of Musk in Indian approval queue
Murugan resigns from Cabinet as Mos MIB & Rajya Sabha
Broadcasters flag HD-SD conversion, satellite spectrum concerns in submission to MIB on telecom rules 2026
MIB seeks dismissal of AIDCF plea against WAVES, says OTT rules differ from TV
Uday Shankar: Indian M&E sector needs policy support to compete globally
India’s media sector must create global brands, says MIB secy at CII Summit
‘The Love Hypothesis’, ‘Carrie’ lead Prime Video’s weekly global rankings
Amitabh Bachchan recalls Allahabad’s famous milk jalebis on ‘KBC 18’
Prime Video announces weekly line-up of Indian, global shows & series
Harshdeep Kaur to open TV9 Festival of India 2026 Oct 16 

