Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign has been accused of altering Google advertisements in a way that made it appear as if popular media organisations such as The Guardian, CNN and Reuters were supporting her. These advertisements, which are labelled as sponsored content, appeared alongside the search results making them look like genuine articles from news outlets.
However, these “fake news” items were written by campaign workers in an effort to boost support for Harris in the upcoming presidential election, according to a report by Axios. The altered headlines and article descriptions, which are visible above links to corresponding news websites, have been changed without the knowledge of the publishers, as stated by Axios.
For instance, one advertisement featuring a link to The Guardian displayed the headline “VP Harris Fights Abortion Bans – Harris Defends Repro Freedom”, with a description that read: “VP Harris is a champion for reproductive freedom and will stop Trump’s abortion bans.” In contrast, The Guardian’s actual coverage of this issue was less partisan.
A spokesman from The Guardian stated: “While we understand why an organization might wish to align itself with the Guardian’s trusted brand, we need to ensure it is being used appropriately and with our permission.” He added that they would be reaching out to Google for more information about this practice.
The same issue was observed in another election advertisement linking to National Public Radio (NPR), which read: “Harris Will Lower Health Costs”, with a description stating: “Kamala Harris will lower the cost of high-quality, affordable health care. This too did not accurately reflect NPR’s coverage.
Spokesmen for CNN, USA Today, and other news companies whose links have appeared in these advertisements told Axios they were unaware their brands were being featured this way. Google stated that this tactic does not break any rules since the advertisements are prominently labelled as “sponsored” so they can be easily distinguished from search results.
Although potentially misleading for some users, this has become a common practice in commercial advertising to mimic real news results. The Trump campaign, however, has not been running these types of advertisements, according to Axios. While there is no indication that the Harris campaign violated Google’s rules, it raises questions about transparency and integrity in political advertising.