The Harris campaign has been running misleading Google ads that look like news articles published by mainstream media, an Axios analysis found on Tuesday.
The strategy exploits the ambiguity of the media’s coverage of Harris’ support in actual Harris campaign advertising.
Axios reports that the Harris campaign has had major publishers, including The Guardian, Reuters and CBS News, edit ads to make it appear as if they are on the side of the Harris campaign. Reported“This is a common practice in the commercial advertising world and does not violate Google policies. However, the ads so closely mimic real news search results that they catch news organizations off guard.”
“While the Trump campaign has not run these types of ads, the tactic has been used by campaigns before, according to Google’s Ad Transparency Center,” the outlet explained. “The ads are labeled as sponsored, but it’s not immediately clear whether the text accompanying the actual news links is sponsored. It was written by the campaign, not the media publication itself.”
The Guardian, which frequently publishes support for Harris, said it understood why the campaign would want to emulate it.
“We understand that some organisations want to associate themselves with The Guardian’s trusted brand, but we need to make sure it’s used appropriately and with permission. We will be reaching out to Google for more information about this practice,” a Guardian spokesperson told Axios.
The liberal news site CNN, USA TodayNPR was allegedly unaware that the Harris campaign was using its brand.
Google said the ads were allowed on its platform and did not violate any rules.
“Election advertisers are required to complete a verification process and we display prominent in-ad disclosures that make it clear who is paying for their ad,” a Google spokesperson told Axios.
Wendell Fsebo is a political reporter for Breitbart News and a former war room analyst for the Republican National Committee. He is the author of: The Politics of Slave MoralityFollow Wendell “X” @WendellHusebø or The truth of society @WendellHusebo.
