Spotify brings back political ads as the US gears up for midterm primaries
Spotify has quietly brought back political adverts in the US, after pausing them in the lead up to the contentious 2020 election.
At the time, the streaming giant said: “At this point in time, we do not yet have the necessary level of robustness in our processes, systems and tools to responsibly validate and review this content,” but added it would review this in the future.
However, according to a recent company presentation and marketing email viewed by tech website Protocol, Spotify was seen to be revisiting this move, just in time for the midterm primaries in the States.
Confirming the reports, Spotify spokesperson Erin Styles said: “Following our pause of political ads in early 2020, we have spent the past two years strengthening and enhancing our processes, systems and tools to responsibly validate and review this content”.
It is understood that Spotify will now allow advertising partners to target niche audiences and use AI-driven “contextual targeting” for their messaging.
The company will only host ads on its podcast service, and it will only plug political entities rather than issue-related groups.
The move has raised some eyebrows, especially in light of the recent controversy surrounding the politics of Joe Rogan and his anti-vax views.
Alice Enders of Enders Analysis told City PM that the move a “huge money spinner for Spotify in the US”.
As reported by Forbes, in the 2019-2020 election cycle alone, total political advertising spending reached $8.5bn across TV, radio and digital media.
Facebook parent firm Meta recently responded to calls for more transparency around ad targeting for its political ads.
On Monday, the Silicon Valley giant announced that it would be publishing detailed information on social issues, electoral or political ads for vetted academic researchers through the Facebook Open Research and Transparency (FORM) environment.