Kamala Harris’ campaign has been using a technique in order to manipulate headlines and descriptions on Google in a bid to appear supported by mainstream media outlets.
First reported by Axios, the practice involves editing headlines within Google search ads so it appears that major publishers are in support of the Vice President and Democratic Party presidential nominee. Outlets such as NPR, the Guardian, Reuters, and CBS News are among those reportedly affected.
In one scenario where The Guardian ran a story about Harris’ views on abortion, supporting text underneath (from the Harris campaign) adds, “VP Harris is a champion for reproductive freedom and will stop Trump’s abortion bans.”
The move has caught many off guard. While permissible under Google’s own policy, the sponsored content replicates news articles in a way that means it’s not immediately evident that the text has been written by the Harris campaign.
The Guardian has stressed the need to ensure its “trusted brand was being used appropriately and with our permission,” while CNN, USA Today and NPR said they were unaware of the practice being used against them.
Google has confirmed that the impacted content is “easily distinguishable from Search results” and no policies have been broken. It also noted that the Trump campaign has refrained from the practice so far.
Many on social media were critical of the campaign tactic.
Others questioned the legitimacy of the Harris campaign.
There were also some concerns over the processes at Google.
