Axios reported that presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign has edited news headlines to appear favorable to her within Google search ads.
Literal fake news.
Maybe this will finally make the media stop worshipping presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
Oh, who am I kidding? I doubt the campaign had to change much since the MSM is obviously on her side.
A source told Axios that “the campaign buys search ads with news links to give voters searching for information about Vice President Harris more context.”
The campaign has rewritten headlines since August 3, targeting over a dozen outlets:
The Guardian, CNN, USA Today, and NPR told Axios they had no idea the Harris campaign had these ads.
“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,” a Guardian spokesperson told Axios. “We’ll be reaching out to Google for more information about this practice.”
Harris’s campaign has even edited headlines in local markets, such as North Dakota radio station WDAY:
- The ads include links to real articles from the news outlets, but the headlines and supporting text have been altered to read as though the articles support the Harris campaign’s objectives.
- For example, an ad that ran alongside an article from The Guardian shows a headline that reads “VP Harris Fights Abortion Bans – Harris Defends Repro Freedom” and then includes supporting text underneath the headline that reads, “VP Harris is a champion for reproductive freedom and will stop Trump’s abortion bans.”
- An ad featuring a link to an NPR story reads, “Harris Will Lower Health Costs,” with supporting text that says, “Kamala Harris will lower the cost of high-quality affordable health care.”
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump’s campaign has not edited headlines.
The actions don’t violate any Google policies, even though the ads look realistic. Axios pointed out that the campaign does not clarify that the image is an ad and that they wrote the headline, not the media organization.
Past campaigns have manipulated headlines in ads.
However, it’s a fine line, especially for people who claim Trump lies and manipulates the truth:
- Facebook banned the ability for advertisers to edit text from Instant Article news links in their ads in 2017, citing its “continuing efforts to stop the spread of misinformation and false news.”
- Google argues that because ads on Search are prominently labeled as “Sponsored,” they’re “easily distinguishable from Search results.”
- For years, a Google spokesperson said, “we’ve provided additional levels of transparency for election ads specifically.”
Honestly, I can barely tell the difference. The MSM has quickly propped up Harris, barely questioning how President Joe Biden came to the decision to drop out and why the transition to Harris has been so seamless. I’m not suspicious at all.
Reporters aren’t complaining about the lack of interviews. Reporters aren’t complaining about no platform. Reporters aren’t looking for meat. They’re publishing fluff pieces and insisting Harris doesn’t need to do anything.
Again, and I’m not getting my hopes up, but maybe, just maybe, this campaign trick will wake up one or two reporters to get tough with Harris.
One Axios reporter has already brushed it off. Imagine if Trump did this!
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