Now in the News: American Journalism Project Invests $3.15 Million In Three Local, Nonprofit News Organizations

Google in August will change the requirements for political content policy ads for visual and audio, the company announced Monday.The updated policy aims to clarify the disclosure requirements for election advertising using ad formats and features available across Google when the advertiser is responsible for including a “Paid for by” disclosure directly in the ad.

Serving a political ad comes with restrictions. Election-related ads will require the disclosure for visual formats to be visible at all times. The ads must serve up in a “sufficient size,” so all viewers can see it.

Google has different requirements for political and election advertising based on region. Election ads in some regions may run only if the advertiser is verified by Google.Election ads in these areas are subject to disclosure requirements and targeting restrictions. Google Ad Grants accounts are not eligible to run election ads or apply for election ads verification in these regions.

If the ads contain political content not restricted by the local legal requirements for a given region, the ads may run as long as they are compliant with all other Google Ads policies and local laws and regulations.Non-compliance with Google’s political content policies may result in information about the account and political ads being disclosed publicly or to relevant government agencies and regulators, according to Google.

Ad Economy Recedes For First Time In 16 Months

The U.S. ad market contracted a modest 0.3% in June, marking the first decline since February 2021, according to a MediaPost analysis of data from Standard Media Index’s U.S. Ad Market Tracker.

The contraction follows a steady deceleration of the U.S. ad market’s expansion coming out of the COVID-19-related advertising recession. Relative to June 2020, which fell 23.1%, June 2022’s ad market index actually expanded 36.6%.

Most of the June 2022 contraction was due to reductions by the nation’s largest advertising categories. Spending by the top 10 categories fell 5.2% in June, while all other categories actually expanded 1.2%. Most of June’s erosion occurred among traditional media spending.

Among media, the erosion was mostly among traditional media, which contracted 16.6% from June 2021, while digital expanded 8.6%. Digital’s share of all media spending rose to six points to 62% in June.

Sunshine Communications Announces New Acquisitions

Newly formed Sunshine Communications, a division of the Sunshine Initiative Public Benefit Corporation, owned and operated by Jay Lucas announced the acquisition of the Eagle Times from Sample News Group, effective immediately.

“I am very excited to return ownership of the Eagle Times back to New Hampshire,” said Lucas. “As someone who grew up getting our news from the Eagle as well as remembering how excited it was when my photo from my football days or my name being listed in the paper from the honor roll, it is important we keep the spirit of this publication local, relevant, and worthwhile for the communities it serves.”

In addition to the acquisition of the Eagle Times, Sunshine Communications has also taken ownership of the Newport-Argus Champion and the Newport Times.“Prior to this new venture, my wife Karen and I along with Archie Mountain, Roy Malool, Hunter Rieseberg and other leaders in the Newport area brought back the Newport Times in both online and in print formats,” said Lucas. “Combining efforts and bringing it all together will create amazing content and opportunities for members of the community to share their passions with readers across western New Hampshire and beyond.”