Name: Looking at Google's "Sensitive Events" Ad Policy Changes
Uploaded: 2024-01-16T18:30:15.000Z
Description: Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Looking at Google's "Sensitive Events" Ad Policy Changes' from PowerfulJRE on Comedy Buff. Published 2024-01-16. Transcript available.

Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Looking at Google's "Sensitive Events" Ad Policy Changes' from PowerfulJRE on Comedy Buff. Published 2024-01-16. Transcript available.

The Joe Rogan experience.
And they were talking about what they would do for a significant cultural event.
Let me see if I can go.
This is a new policy going to affect February 2024.
It clearly defines what constitutes a, quote,
sensitive event for purposes of prohibiting certain exploitative or insensitive
ads and content.
Yeah, that's it.
While Google already had policies in place for ads and YouTube monetization,
this expands the restrictions to Google's publisher network as well.
And so there was, it was defined in a certain way.
See if you could pull up what it actually says.
Because the way it was defined, what disturbed me was that it's very blanket.
A sensitive event is defined, rather, as an unforeseen or unexpected situation
that poses significant risk to Google's ability to provide high-quality,
relevant information
while reducing insensitive, insensitive content is that, I have a concern with
that.
Insensitive content in prominent and monetized features.
Insensitive content.
Insensitive to who?
Exactly.
So open to subjective.
Now, listen to this, though.
Sensitive events include those with major social, cultural, or political impact,
such as civil emergencies, natural disasters, public health crises, terrorism,
conflict, or mass violence.
So what they're saying is you must be sensitive if you're going to discuss
civil emergencies,
natural disasters, public health crises, anything with a major social, cultural,
or political impact,
terrorism, mass violence.
You must now be sensitive.
The thing is, like, whatever they're trying to say, whatever they're trying to
do to make
the online world a nicer place, you've got to be really careful with saying
things like that.
Because sensitive is a weird term if someone is violently opposed.
Sensitive to who?
Right.
Also, what if someone is violently opposed to something that's happening?
Like, think about one or many of the military conflicts around the world.
Don't pick a side.
What if someone is violently opposed to these people dying and losing their
lives,
and they're talking about it?
Is that an insensitive piece of content that can now be censored by a new
policy?
Is that what it is?
Or is it just going to demonetize it, which they've kind of always done?
I think this was talking about people who are making ads using their platform,
not people who are hosting content on their platforms.
So say it again?
I've got to admit, I'm a little lost on this one.
So if any of the listeners out there are also a little confused as the...
No, it's about them having the ability to censor you.
So if you do the Ron White show on YouTube, which is owned by Google,
if they decide that this something of whatever you're doing is in somehow or
another offensive...
They would want to edit it.
I don't know what they're saying they can and can't do.
I think it's making ads.
I don't know if it has to do with the content.
Again, that's on YouTube.
I think this policy content change is for people who use the Google Ads
platform
and create ads like this one I'm showing you right here,
so that you can't abuse it.
You can't monetize it.
But look how it's phrased, please.
Go back to the top sentence.
So look at...
Which one?
It says,
The updated policy provides practice including price gouging,
misdirected traffic, and victim blaming during sensitive events.
I'm with the first ones.
Price gouging, misdirected traffic.
I'm with those.
But victim blaming during sensitive events,
that one gets touchy.
Because like, what do we...
It's just using the ads, though.
It's like making some weird ad to pop up to get you to click on something
that's going to pop up on content that might be about that event or anything
like that.
I understand.
But victim blaming,
the thing about victim blaming is you can do it both ways, right?
Like victim blaming,
like with Hamas and Palestine and Israel,
you could go,
you could victim blame on both sides.
You could say,
the Israelis were doing this
and that's why Hamas had to attack.
And you say Hamas attacked
and that's why the Israelis are doing this
and you fucking people should have known better
and you fucking people should have known better.
That's victim blaming.
Sure.
You've got to let people talk.
Yeah.
And if talking looks like victim blaming
until people work it out,
then why not allow it?
You can't just stop people from talking.
So what are we saying?
Are we saying that it's just,
they can't monetize that?
Well, then what happens is
if you're not monetizing stuff,
you let people know
that unless they self-censor,
it's going to cost them financially.
Even if the ads like,
like say if the represents a company
that is actually interested in this discussion
and wants to know,
like what is the right,
what's the right perspective on this?
Who's most informed?
Who's looking at this the most correctly?
If you're a company and you're,
why wouldn't you want to advertise
on something where people are just talking
about what may or may not be happening in the world?
And if you're going to do that on YouTube,
then you have to worry about
you're losing your ability
to make a living now.
It's like, ooh.
Is that what happens?
I don't know.
I don't know.
I mean, is this,
this is just a blanket policy
in case of the most egregious offenses
that all people agree are terrible
and should probably not be okay?
but then who gets to decide that?
What happened to the frogs
eating the mouths
and shit like that?
Ron White,
this is the future of people
being able to talk shit.
That's what it is.
No, I believe that, you know.
It's kind of the future of people
being able to talk shit
because this is how it goes away.
Right.
It goes away through stuff like that.
Sure.
It goes away through people deciding
that something's insensitive,
which is like 98% of all jokes.
Right.
Yeah, you don't want to come to my,
you don't want to come to my show.
That's what I'm saying.
Here's their examples they give.
Okay, here's some examples.
All right, violations.
Okay, what is examples?
Ad that claim victims of,
oh, ads that claim victims
of a sensitive event
responsible for their own tragedy
or similar instances of victimhood.
Okay, ads.
So it's just about ads.
Yeah, at least for now it is.
You know, maybe they could switch it
and be like, now all content,
but it's just talking about ads.
Well, that's completely reasonable.
If it's just about ads,
that's completely reasonable.
Right.
Yeah, I guess you should want
to be able to control
how fucked up the ads are.
Because that's kind of,
well, is it?
It's just ads.
They're just like,
you can still use other parts
of the internet that can still do that.
But you can't use propaganda.
You can't lie.
Yeah, you can't use Google ads,
which is the biggest part
of the internet advertising world.
Right, they shut you out.
Do it somewhere else
is all they're saying.
Right.
That seems reasonable.
Yeah, that's pretty reasonable.
As long as they're not doing that
with the actual content
of the podcast.
Because I do know
that they demonetize.
They demonetize people
all the time
if you talk about certain subjects.
It's always been a problem.
And they don't do that to you.
They used to do it.
Yeah, they used to do it
up until the time
when we switched over to Spotify.
On their website,
this is specifically
on their advertising policy.
Yeah.
So now they don't do it
to anybody?
No, no.
They do it to other people.
They do it to other people
all the time.
They stopped doing it
to us for like three months
where they didn't give us
any dings.
We're doing the same show.
Right.
I don't know any other way
to do this.
You've got to sit down
and talk shit.
It's the only way to do it.
Right.
If I change that
for somebody that's going
to censor something
or I'm going to lose money,
like what are you talking about?
Like I can't change what I do.
No.
I have zero interest
in doing that.
Yeah.
You know,
and if I don't think
it's offensive,
then that's it.
That's the end
of the conversation.
And I think
you're pretty sensitive.
Yeah, I'm sensitive.
I try to be sensitive
about these kind of things.
It's just,
you've got to let people talk
and just because people
disagree with you,
it doesn't mean
there's something wrong
with them.