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FILE - This March 19, 2018 file photo shows the Google app on an iPad in Baltimore. Google says it will do a better job of verifying the identity of political ad buyers in the U.S., requiring them to provide a government-issued ID and other key information before allowing them to buy ads. Senior vice president Kent Walker says in a blog post Google will also require ad buyers to disclose who is paying for the ad. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Google says it will do a better job of verifying the identity of political ad buyers in the U.S. by requiring a copy of a government-issued ID and other information.
Google will also require the disclosure of who is paying for the ad. Google executive Kent Walker is repeating a pledge he made in November to create a library of such ads that will be searchable by anyone by this summer.
Google's blog post comes short of declaring support for the Honest Ads Act, a bill that would impose disclosure requirements on online ads, similar to what's required for television and other media. Facebook and Twitter support that bill.
Google says applications under the new system will open by the end of May, with approval taking up to five days.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Google says it will do a better job of verifying the identity of political ad buyers in the U.S. by requiring a copy of a government-issued ID and other information.

Google to verify identity of US political ad buyers

This Is How Google Plans to Bring More Transparency to Political Ads
Lisa Marie Segarra
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is joining the list of companies pledging to bring more transparency to online political ads.
The tech giant will now require that customers who buy political ads that appear to U.S users provide a government issued ID and “other key information” to confirm that they are U.S. citizens or permanent residents, Google said on Friday.
This summer, the company also plans to release a Transparency Report that will show who buys election ads on its service and how much they paid. Additionally, it expects to introduce a searchable election ad database with similar information.
The increased disclosures come after U.S. intelligence agencies said Russia-related entities had tried to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. In response, Twitter has banned ads from news channel Russia Today and Russian news site Sputnik.
Google first pledged to make changes to its political ad-buying policies late last year. Facebook announced similar changes in October that would include disclosing in ads who paid for them. also said users would be able to go to a page and click “View Ads” to see all ads the page is running on Facebook, Instagram and Messenger, even if those ads weren’t specifically targeted at them.