AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson
Axios Sarah Fischer reported on Tuesday that Vice President Kamala Harris’ The campaign used Google search to promote positive headlines – but it also edited real headlines from reputable news outlets.
Although Fischer wrote that no laws or rules were violated by this approach—all of the ads in question were clearly marked as sponsored ads by the Harris campaign—the appearance that the campaign seemed to be cooperating with the news media to make it appear that they were providing positive coverage was a bad image and something that sowed further doubt about the objectivity of the news media. Fischer wrote:
A source familiar with the Harris campaign’s ad team said the campaign is buying search ads with news links to provide more context to voters looking for information about Vice President Harris.
The campaign complied with all Google rules, although a technical error in Google’s ad library made it appear as though some ads were missing the required disclosures that Google requires when they run. (A Google spokesperson confirmed the error and said the incident was under investigation.)
“Election advertisers must undergo identity verification and we display prominent disclosures in their ads clearly showing who paid for the ad,” the spokesman said.
But the media do not fully agree with the campaign’s approach, regardless of whether rules were violated or not. A spokesman for The Guardianwhose headlines have appeared in Harris’ Google search ads, told Axios: “While we understand why an organization would want to identify with the Guardian’s trusted brand, we need to ensure it is used appropriately and with our permission. We will be reaching out to Google for more information on this practice.”
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