The Harris campaign runs misleading Google ads that look like news articles published by the establishment media, an Axios analysis found Tuesday.
The strategy harnesses the ambiguous nature of the media’s oftentimes pro-Harris coverage with actual Harris campaign advertising.
The Harris campaign edits the ads that “make it appear as if the Guardian, Reuters, CBS News and other major publishers are on her side,” Axios reported. “It’s a common practice in the commercial advertising world that doesn’t violate Google’s policies, but the ads mimic real news results from Search closely enough that they have news outlets caught off guard.”
“According to Google’s ad transparency center, the Trump campaign isn’t running these types of ads, but this technique has been used by campaigns before,” the outlet explained. “The ads say that they are sponsored, but it’s not immediately clear that the text that accompanies real news links is written by the campaigns and not by the media publication itself.”
The Guardian, a publication that often publishes pro-Harris coverage, said it understands why the campaign would want to imitate the Guardian.
“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. We’ll be reaching out to Google for more information about this practice,” a Guardian spokesperson told Axios.
Liberal news sites CNN, USA Today, and NPR were purportedly unaware the Harris campaign harnessed their brands.
Google says the ads are allowed on its platform and do not break its rules.
“Election advertisers are required to complete an identity verification process and we prominently display in-ad disclosures that clearly show people who paid for the ad,” a Google spokesperson told Axios.
Wendell Husebo is a political reporter with Breitbart News and a former RNC War Room Analyst. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality. Follow Wendell on “X” @WendellHusebø or on Truth Social @WendellHusebo.
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