Huh:
The Harris campaign has been editing news headlines and descriptions within Google search ads that make it appear as if the Guardian, Reuters, CBS News and other major publishers are on her side, Axios has found.
All together now, folks:
This is indeed not normal! Rewriting news headlines to give the illusion of media endorsement is, in fact, extremely weird and dirty.
Axios was quick to note that this is "a common practice in the commercial advertising world that doesn't violate Google's policies," and that "this technique has been used by campaigns before." Of note, the Trump campaign is not doing this — only Harris's.
Common though it may be, the media companies in question are either unhappy about it or else unaware their content is being used for political purposes:
‘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,' a Guardian spokesperson said.
Spokespeople for brands such as CNN, USA Today and NPR, whose links appeared in Harris for President ads, said they were unaware their brand was being featured this way.
(As an aside, I'm suuuure the U.S. brands like CNN and NPR are reaaallly unhappy that Kamala is using them as Democratic propaganda tools.)
Google, meanwhile, has taken every step possible to make sure voters know the difference between campaign propaganda and actual news:
The campaign has complied with all of Google's rules, although a technical glitch in Google's Ad Library made it appear as though some ads lacked the necessary disclosures Google requires when they ran. (A Google spokesperson confirmed the glitch and said it's investigating what happened.)
Google right now:
Remember this the next time the left accuses Trump of "disinformation."
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