Global Yahoo Advertising Policies

Read about our Political Advertising Process here.

Yahoo defines political ads as ads related to a candidate for an elected office, an elected officeholder, or an issue that will appear on an upcoming ballot. They may also include ads intended to raise awareness on certain political or social issues.

It is acceptable to make political advertising opportunities available to candidates, political committees, political parties and other groups or individuals, subject to the restrictions below. Advertisers must be based in the country where the political ads are targeted. The billing location must match the targeted country.

The Yahoo DSP and Yahoo Premium Direct-Sold Channels limit political opportunities to advertisers, seat holders, and partners whose accounts are directly managed by an Yahoo Account Manager and have received explicit pre-approval at the advertiser level from the Yahoo Ad Policy team.

Third-party DSPs may run political ads provided that the DSP has been pre-approved by the Yahoo Ad Policy Team.

US Restrictions:

• Ads for state and local campaigns and ballot measures must comply with applicable state and local laws and regulations, and may be subject to additional legal requirements. Ads for state and local campaigns are not permitted in Washington.

International Restrictions:

• Political advertising for campaigns for elective offices in countries outside the U.S. is not acceptable, unless it is geographically targeted, lawful in the jurisdiction, and pre-approved by the Yahoo Ad Policy team.
• Political advertising is prohibited in Brazil, the Middle East, North Africa, Saudi Arabia and Switzerland.
• Political advertising is prohibited in France during the period 6 months before the first day of the month of an election.
• Taiwan:
• Ads for public election candidates during the election period shall disclose the name of the advertiser and the funder, if any, in the ads and shall contain an “electoral campaign ad” disclaimer. If the advertiser and or the funder is a legal entity or organization, the name of the responsible person and the physical address or website address of the legal entity or organization shall also be shown on the ads.
• The required and specified information stated above should be clearly and distinctly presented, separate from the content of the ad itself, and must adhere to the following regulations:
• Text and graphic ads: The font size of the required and specified information must not be less than 5% of the total advertisement area.
• Audio ads: This information should be presented audibly at either the beginning or end of the advertisement, lasting for at least three seconds.
• Video ads: The required and specified information should be displayed at either the beginning or end of the ad, lasting for a minimum of three seconds.
• The advertiser and the funder shall submit an application letter and an affidavit letter in accordance with local laws for electoral campaign ads running in the election period.
• During the election period, the advertisers and funders of electoral campaign ads must not be individuals, legal entities, or groups from foreign countries, Mainland China, Hong Kong, or Macau. This rule also applies to legal entities, groups, or organizations registered in Taiwan if their primary members are from the aforementioned regions.Ads for candidates of president or vice president shall disclose the names of the party and the candidate
• No ads related to public elections can run on election day
• Ads that publish any survey results during the restricted period (from the date of the announcement of the public election to 10 days before the election date) must disclose the following information:
• organization in charge of the survey
• implementing time
• sampling method, matrix and sample size
• error and budget source
• No ads for survey results can run from 10 days before the election day.
• A 'paid for by' disclaimer is not required as long as the ads are:
• election campaigns
• paid for by prospective candidates, candidates, or his/her political parties
• delivered outside the statutory election period

GUIDELINES

Content

• Advertisements may contain a link or directly link to a website that contains further positions or views if those positions or views conform to the guidelines set forth herein.

Placement

• Political advertising shall not be placed in a context or location that would make it misleading, deceptive, or otherwise violate Yahoo's community standards. Political advertising may be geographically targeted and/or demographically targeted.

Compliance

• All political advertising must comply with all applicable federal laws and regulations, FEC regulations, and (where applicable) state or local laws and regulations, and such compliance shall be the sole responsibility of the advertiser.
• All political advertising must clearly identify who paid for the communication and whether or not it was authorized by a candidate and/or organization on the ad banner, video, or link prior to click-thru or viewing of content. Unauthorized ads must also include contact information for the sponsoring organization. "Paid for by" disclosure must be clear and conspicuous (i.e., easily identifiable by contrasting color and font on the ad banner or video).
• Political advertising cannot give the appearance that Yahoo supports or favors any particular candidate, party, or political agenda.
• Political advertising that uses content that has been digitally generated or altered (in a manner that is material to the ad’s claims) to depict realistic-looking scenarios that did not actually happen must include a clear and conspicuous disclosure such as “This ad does not depict real events” or “This audio was computer generated”.

YAHOO CA + NJ STATE AND LOCAL POLITICAL AD DATABASE

POLITICAL ISSUE ADVERTISING

Advertising for organizations and individuals who wish to raise awareness on certain political and social issues is acceptable. Determination of suitability of any given issue or advertisement is at the sole discretion of Yahoo.

• All issue advertising must clearly identify who paid for the communication on the ad banner, video, or link prior to click-thru or viewing of content.
• All potential political issue advertising opportunities must be approved by the Yahoo Ad Policy team.
• Political issue advertising is prohibited in Brazil, the Middle East, North Africa, Saudi Arabia and Switzerland.
• Political issue advertising is prohibited in France during the period 6 months before the first day of the month of an election

Non-political advertising:

• Advertising may not promote extreme political or extreme religious agendas or any known associations with hate, criminal, or terrorist activities.
• Commercial advertising may not exploit political agendas or use "hot button" political issues or names of prominent politicians for commercial unauthorized political campaign use. For example, an ad may not refer to the immigration policy of an administration or political candidate to deliver a travel ad. But a candidate may counter his/her opponent on the basis of his/her stand on immigration reforms.