Vice President Kamala Harris‘ campaign is changing the headlines on news articles within sponsored search advertisements on Google to appear as if those outlets are partial toward her presidential bid.
The ads, which were first reported by Axios, include headlines and descriptions that mimic a real news article. Newsweek reviewed several of the advertisements through Google’s ad transparency center. Some of the new outlets included in the advertisements include NPR, Reuters, The Guardian and the Associated Press.
Axios reported that the ad technique is often used in commercial advertising and that mimicking news search results does not violate Google’s policies. In one example, which Harris’ campaign bought to appear on Google between August 7 and 13, the advertisements show a link to Reuters with the headline, “Inflation Is Down.” The description of the sponsored post reads, “Under the Biden-Harris Administration, ‘The U.S. is winning the inflation fight.'”
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The sponsored search results display a small disclaimer that says it was “Paid for by Harris for President” and is labeled as “sponsored.” Still, some media professionals raised concerns about the tactic, claiming that it could reflect poorly on media outlets.
“Harris camp doing nothing wrong and Google, which is pretty strict about banning spammy ads, doesn’t see it as a consumer harm,” Sara Fischer, a reporter with Axios, wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “News outlets just collateral damage in this weird ads tactic.”
“Sounds like Harris is exploiting a weird Google defect…to create the impression that certain news outlets are in the tank for her campaign,” producer and College Fix editorial assistant Christopher White wrote on X.
A spokesperson for the Guardian told Axios that “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.”
This is a developing news story and will be updated with more information.