The Harris-Walz campaign has been editing media headlines in Google search ads in order to falsely present a more pro-Democratic spin, further proving the threat of media manipulation ahead of the 2024 election.
As reported by Axios, some of the outlets whose headlines were manipulated by the Harris campaign include Reuters, CBS News, and The Guardian, among others. Although this practice is not considered to be in violation of Google’s policies, the altered headlines so closely resemble the real headlines that the average viewer could mistake them for being authentic.
Meanwhile, several of the outlets that were targeted by this tactic have issued statements denouncing it.
“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,” said a spokesman for The Guardian. “We’ll be reaching out to Google for more information about this practice.”
Similar statements from spokesmen with CNN, NPR, and USA Today all said that they were not familiar with the fact that their respective brands’ names were being used for promotional purposes by the Harris campaign. Other outlets that have been the victims of this false manipulation include Time magazine, the Associated Press, PBS, and The Independent in the United Kingdom.
One such example is an apparent link to an NPR article which is titled “Harris Will Lower Health Costs.” The summary of the article below the headline says “Kamala Harris will lower the cost of high-quality affordable health care.”
Despite Google allowing this practice, other platforms have forbidden it, including Facebook. Citing “continuing efforts to stop the spread of misinformation and false news,” the social media platform banned the manipulation of news headlines in advertisements in 2017.
Google allows such false headlines to remain as long as they have the word “Sponsored” below them.
“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,” said a spokesman for Google.