Google is expanding its fight against coronavirus-related misinformation by banning ads that “[contradict] Authorized Scientific Consensus “on the pandemic. That means websites and apps can no longer make money by running ads promoting discredited conspiracy theories about COVID-19. Those include claims that the virus was created in a Chinese laboratory, which the pandemic is a hoax and that Bill Gates was behind it.
According to BloombergGoogle will start applying the new rule next month. In addition to blocking advertisers from creating new ads, it will use human and machine reviewers to find and take action against publishers and advertisers who break the rule. It will also prohibit those who repeatedly violate its new policy from using its advertising platform. As a Google spokesperson explained, the new rule expands the company’s policy against claims of harmful health properties, such as miracle health cures and things that promote anti-vaccination ideas, on the Internet:
