Google has announced a new policy that will see porn sites that look to advertise on its search engine disallowed from using its promotional services.
The search giant placed a new policy on Monday that forbids the promotion of sexually themed sites from its advertising network. The change is targeted at sites that advertise “graphic depictions of sexual acts” or hardcore ones, including oral sex and masturbation.
The ad network, known as AdWords, is a Google platform for advertisers seeking to put ads on properties across the Web as well as on Google sites. Advertising is the company’s core source of income. Recently, Google made $13.8 billion in advertisement revenue, which accounts for 90-percent of the company’s total income.
A Google representative refused to put into percentage the number of sexually explicit websites that advertise on AdWords. When asked what motivated the change, the representative merely said that the company updates its policy regularly and has had for a long time strict rules when it comes to content that is sexually explicit.
Some within the porn industry stated they were surprised by Google’s announcement.
Theo Sapoutzis, CEO and Chairman of AVN Media Network told CNBC that in 2002, he was among the very first advertisers for AdWords. He further said that this is something that has been untouched for 12 years, so people must not expect sudden change.
This is actually not the first time that Google has had control over adult content. Last year June, Google-owned blogger stopped porn blogs from earning money through ads on adult websites. Although porn ads are prohibited now on AdWords, the updated policy still allows ads to promote things such as adult dating sites and strip clubs.
In June 2014, Google sent out an email to companies informing them of the new changes.
The developments come as Google proceeds to invest in other advertising forms such as online video. Last month, Google declared publicly that it had acquired mDialog, which is a company that deals with video advertising technology. The startup works hand in hand with big media companies and allows them deliver and manage video advertising throughout various screens, including devices that run on Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS.