Google and Facebook Take Aim at Fake News Sites - The New York Times

Tbd: the extent to which this shift will have an impact on their earnings estimates; also see Mark Zuckerberg Is in Denial and Renegade Facebook Employees Form Task Force To Battle Fake News (BuzzFeed); #BetterLateThanNever in any case

"Google kicked off the action on Monday afternoon when the Silicon Valley search giant said it would ban websites that peddle fake news from using its online advertising service. Hours later, Facebook, the social network, updated the language in its Facebook Audience Network policy, which already says it will not display ads in sites that show misleading or illegal content, to include fake news sites.

“We have updated the policy to explicitly clarify that this applies to fake news,” a Facebook spokesman said in a statement. “Our team will continue to closely vet all prospective publishers and monitor existing ones to ensure compliance.”"

Google and Facebook Take Aim at Fake News Sites - The New York Times