YouTube Is Banning Ads for Alcohol, Gambling, and Politics… Sort Of

Spotted first by Axios, YouTube will no longer accept ads that promote alcohol, politics, gambling or prescription drugs, starting today.

Now, it’s important to note that these will not be banned site-wide. Instead YouTube will not be allowing this type of promotion on the “masthead” slot. This is the most prominent ad slot on the platform, and technically, one of the first things a user sees.

Again, this really only referring to one section of ads, and these categories are likely still to be promoted elsewhere.

In a statement to Axios, YouTube said this:

“We believe this update will build on changes we made last year to the masthead reservation process and will lead to a better experience for users,”

– Google spokesperson, via Axios

In another statement, I say

“Who cares?”

– Myself, via myself