Google has taken down access to political advertising records[1] in the European Union, removing seven years of material that had tracked campaigns in 27 countries, as first reported by The Briefing[2]. The archive once covered ads placed on Google Search, YouTube, and its wider display network.
Archive No Longer Available
Until late September, the Ad Transparency Center let visitors look up political ads from EU countries back to 2018. The database showed how much parties spent, what kind of audiences they tried to reach, and which candidates or groups were behind each campaign. That section has now disappeared. The tool only shows political ads for a handful of countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, Brazil, India, Israel, and Australia.
Link to EU Transparency Law
The removal comes ahead of new EU legislation, the Regulation on Transparency and Targeting of Political Advertising. It comes into effect on October 10 and introduces stricter rules for how online political campaigns are run. Ads will have to be clearly marked, include details of sponsors, and explain if targeting tools were used. Certain personal data, such as ethnicity or political opinion, cannot be used to shape these ads.
Google announced last year that it would stop running political ads in the EU once the regulation applied. At the time, the company said old ads would still remain visible in the Transparency Center. Instead, the archive for EU campaigns is no longer available.
Impact on Research and Accountability
The loss of these records means there is no longer a way to study how campaigns across Europe used Google platforms during recent elections. Researchers had depended on the archive to follow spending patterns, review campaign messaging, and track how voters were targeted. Without it, the history of political advertising in the region has become harder to examine.
The EU plans to launch its own repository of political ads, but that system has not yet gone live. Until then, a gap remains in public access to past political campaign data.
Broader Industry Response
Meta has also adjusted its policies. In July it said it would no longer accept political, electoral, or social issue ads in EU countries. Unlike Google, it still allows access to earlier campaign material in its ad library.
Transition Period
The new rules were designed to address concerns about election interference and hidden campaign tactics. But the shift has also created uncertainty about how platforms should handle material already published. For now, Google’s withdrawal means a large part of Europe’s recent political advertising history is no longer accessible.
Notes: This post was edited/created using GenAI tools. Image: DIW-Aigen
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References
- ^ political advertising records (adstransparency.google.com)
- ^ The Briefing (www.thebriefing.ie)
- ^ 2.3 Billion Hungry, One Billion Tonnes Wasted: The Paradox Defining Global Food Security (www.digitalinformationworld.com)
- ^ AI Answers in Crisis: Reliable at the Extremes, Risky in the Middle (www.digitalinformationworld.com)