Ahead of the 2024 elections, Microsoft-owned ad-tech firm Xandr will no longer allow political ads to run on its platform, according to an email obtained by Adweek.

The policy will go into effect in October 1.

In an email sent to clients, Xandr’s ad team said it will ban political ads as well as ads for alcohol, gambling, tobacco and vaping.

Top line

The change comes as Microsoft aligns Xandr’s advertising policies with its own. Microsoft acquired Xandr last year. Xandr’s full ad-tech stack, comprising both demand- and sell-side platforms, had allowed political ads since 2016.

“At a time when many state and local news outlets are dying on the vine, political ads could be the only way voters learn about candidates seeking public office in their communities,” said Mark Jablonowski, president and chief technology officer at ad tech company DSPolitical.

Jablonowski added that “a lot of publishers are going to potentially miss out on revenue from political advertising.”

Between the lines

In January, Xandr laid off its Head of Political, Erik Brydges, as well as a senior political sales staffer, indicating the sunset of its political ads business.

Adobe pulled the plug on political ads in 2020. Display and video ad platform Google DV360  doesn’t allow for targeted ads based on voter file, which are digital databases that include information such as who is a registered voter and who cast ballots in past elections.

Meanwhile, The Trade Desk is actively filling roles in its political ads team. These titles include Director, Business Development (Political & Issue Advocacy),  Programmatic Trading Specialist (Political) and Account Manager (Political Focus).

“This further consolidates the space to a handful of players going after those political budgets,” an industry leader who requested to speak on background told Adweek. “The Trade Desk appears to be the major player.”

Bottom line

Political ad bans tend to sting Democratic candidates more than Republican candidates. Targeting is a key element to Democratic candidates compared to the more monolithic electorate of Republicans, according to Jablonowski.

Ad bans also tend to hurt political newcomers struggling to break through and get noticed.

“They benefit corporations like Exxon, who can continue running ads about their supposed work to help our environment, and hurt advocates like Sierra Club, who can no longer run ads setting the record straight about Exxon,” said Jablonowski.