When it comes to buying concert or festival tickets, the internet has developed a nasty habit of ripping people off. Though, it now appears that Google are finally making an attempt at cracking down on scalping and re-sale sites like Viagogo and StubHub.
Google’s AdWords platform have brought forward a load of new rules that will govern how scalpers and ticket re-sellers advertise on the search engine, making it a lot more difficult for these sites to deceive the average punter.
A huge blow to ticket scalping: Google are out here kicking ass with the introduction of new rules that heavily regulate re-sale websites such as Viagogo and StubHub.
Under the new regulations, sites will not be able to “imply or lead customers to think their site is the primary point of sale for tickets,” according to Billboard.
Re-sellers are now required to submit an application to Google which must show their compliance with these new guidelines, which will take around a week to certify.
“We remain dedicated to ensuring that the ads our users see are helpful, relevant and trustworthy,” Google Senior Director for Trust and Safety David Graff told Billboard.
Other new rules include that sites must now disclose the total cost of tickets, including fees and taxes, before payment information is required, and beginning in March, sites also must disclose the initial value of the tickets for sale.
Via Billboard
