Google suspends ad sales in Russia due to increased censorship.
Google also invoked its sensitive events policy, which prohibits marketing that seeks to profit from war, with the exception of anti-war protests or advertisements.
BENGALURU, India (Reuters) - Google has stopped selling online advertising in Russia, a decision that covers search, YouTube, and external publishing partners.
"In light of the extraordinary circumstances, we are pausing Google ads in Russia," the company said in a statement. "The situation is evolving rapidly and we will continue to share updates as appropriate."
Previously, Google had banned Russian state media from buying or selling ads through its technology. It also invoked its sensitive events policy, which prohibits marketing that seeks to profit from war, with the exception of protests or anti-war ads.
On Thursday, Russia's communications regulator, Roskomnadzor, told Google to stop displaying ads on YouTube containing "false political information" about Ukraine that aimed to "misinform the Russian public" about current events, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The Spark business database showed last year that Google's revenue in Russia in 2020 was 85,5 billion rubles ($790 million).
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