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Google is restricting AdSense ads on fake-news sites

Cutting off advertising revenue could help constrict the supply of misinformation.

Oleksiy Maksymenko via Getty Images

Google made headlines recently about the top search result for 'final election numbers' being patently false. Now the company is going to keep fake-news sites from using its nigh-ubiquitous AdSense program according to the Wall Street Journal. In a statement, the search giant says that as part of an update to its publisher policies, that it will restrict ad serving on websites that "misrepresent, misstate or conceal information about the publisher, the publisher's content, or the primary purpose" of the site.

With the surfeit of questionably sourced-or-written articles that popped up during this year's election cycle, it's refreshing to see at least one of the largest players in tech taking responsibility and addressing how information is distributed and presented. That sound you hear is the ball bouncing around on Facebook's court. We've reached out to Google for additional information and will update this post should it arrive.