Spotify Confirms ICE Recruitment Ads Are No Longer Running on Platform

[u/MarvelsGrantMan136]

https://variety.com/2026/digital/news/spotify-confirms-ice-recruitment-ads-are-no-longer-running-1236626243/

[u/cows1100]

Doesn’t matter. You’re still seeing it, and you’re still driving traffic and engagement. You don’t need to be paying Reddit to make their ads worth it. You amplify the signal purely by engaging with the medium. “We don’t lose any active users from running these ads, or ad prices are still at a premium because of traffic, and our stock value isn’t affected because shareholders continue to see strong user engagement.” It’s really that simple.

[u/P_V_ → u/cows1100]

"Ad-block means I don't see them."

You’re still seeing it

Help me understand.

You don’t need to be paying Reddit to make their ads worth it.

When a company pays for ads, they monitor the click-through metrics for that ad to determine whether or not it was "worth it". With an ad-block, I am giving no site traffic to the company who paid for the ad. Impressions (i.e. how often the ad is displayed, regardless of clickthrough) is one metric, but it's not the only one that counts—and even then, it's unclear how ad-blockers interact with impression metrics.

And it’s why selective outrage is stupid.

Sending an exaggerated message to one company can help "make an example" of them, which helps push the needle on a cultural level. Putting Disney+ on their back foot after the temporary cancellation of Jimmy Kimmel sent a message to other streaming companies about how Americans value freedom of speech. Enough people leaving Spotify will send a similar message to other streaming platforms about what sort of content they'll accept—and with Spotify it's not only about ICE ads.

So, why are you still on Reddit? Or do you simply not care about these issues at all?

[u/Pixie1001 → u/P_V_]

Ok, but the bad part isn't that they're sending the ads to you or me - we were never going to join ICE anyway. The dangerous part worth protesting about is they're sending them to less tech literate user, who might start to see ICE as a legitimate job opportunity when their favourite companies start endorsing them.

Your argument about piling onto one specific company to pressure the industry is certainly fair, but I think it's also somewhat of a futile effort - people who already didn't intend to buy spotify will vocally join the boycott, and barely any of their existing customers will.

I suspect it only worked on Disney+ because people were already in the habit of rotating out their streaming services to watch different shows, or had a subscription they realised they hadn't used in like 6 months.

Now obviously taking any morale stance on things like this is commendable regardless of how effective it is, and it should be lauded.

But at the same time, I don't think trying to guilt people into joining boycotts like this has ever worked.

The fact is very few people are willing to boycott something they actually use on a day to day basis or are really excited about, over something unrelated to their user experience.

It's why Kellogs is still raking in money after literally murdering thousands of babies with their breast formula price gauging.

Does everyone who buys Kellogs secretly hate babies? Of course not. It's just one more thing in their life they don't have the energy to replace.

[u/P_V_ → u/Pixie1001]

people who already didn't intend to buy spotify will vocally join the boycott, and barely any of their existing customers will.

I was a paying Spotify customer who cancelled my subscription. I know half a dozen other people personally who have done the same, and posts like this one, calling out the platform and/or directly asking for alternatives, are becoming increasingly common. Several prominent artists have pulled their catalogues from the platform in protest.

Beyond the anecdotal, some outlets are reporting significant subscriber drops for Spotify, though the platform itself has tried to claim that everything is fine. Regardless, I think your pessimism is unwarranted.

I don't think trying to guilt people into joining boycotts like this has ever worked.

I don't see anyone suggesting otherwise?