YouTube says it will no longer let Trump (or any politician) take over its homepage

YouTube is making big changes to who it will let “take over” YouTube.com. 

For Donald Trump, as well as other politicians, the change means they can never buy that ad spot for their campaigns again. This advertising space, known as a masthead ad unit, can be very costly. It’s the first thing users see when going to YouTube’s homepage, so it is highly “sought after,” but some of YouTube’s past decisions on who to sell it to have been controversial.

In a new report from , YouTube says it will no longer allow certain types of ads — including gambling, alcohol sales, prescription drugs, and political spots — to appear in the top spot on the homepage.  According to the report, YouTube will view ads on certain issues which are “political in nature,” on a case-by-case basis. However, election ads and advertisements for political candidates’ campaigns cannot run ads in YouTube’s masthead at all.

YouTube’s masthead ad unit had previously made waves because the spot was a major part of Trump’s media blitz. The former president’s campaign utilized the ad space multiple times throughout his campaigning, both in 2016 and for his reelection campaign in 2020.

The company previously that it was giving its masthead ad unit policy a major overhaul last November, right before the 2020 election. At the time, YouTube said it would discontinue the ability for advertisers to take over the homepage with a masthead ad for an entire day. However, the Trump campaign still did so on the day of the election in 2020, as it had reserved the ad space before the policy change.

According to YouTube, its videos “billions of views” everyday. The company says 2 billion logged-in users visit each month as well. YouTube is also considered to be the second search engine on the internet. 

This all, of course, makes YouTube a very attractive place for advertisers. But, if you’re in businesses promoting alcohol, drugs, gambling, and politics…you’ll need to find a new place to put your ads.