AllSides, a company that estimates perceived political bias of news outlets’ content, claimed on social media that Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign is misrepresenting news articles in Google search to make them appear like endorsements.
In a thread on X posted on Aug. 13, AllSides provided examples of what it says are Harris campaign ads that “masquerade as news articles with a clear pro-Harris slant.” The campaign is editing the articles’ headlines and preview text to make it appear as if the news outlets are supporting her candidacy, AllSides claimed.
Axios and other news outlets also reported on the Harris campaign ads featuring news articles with edited headlines and descriptions. Those reports prompted other viral online posts about the Harris campaign’s Google ad practices.
“EXPOSED: Harris Campaign caught running PAID ADS on GOOGLE with FAKE HEADLINES to deceive voters into believing positive news coverage,” one person wrote in a viral post on X. “The MSM publications has [sic] NO IDEA the Harris Campaign was using their publications like this.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson posted about the reports on X, writing, “Big tech’s bias is again on full display.”
Multiple readers asked us to VERIFY if Harris’ campaign is editing news headlines in Google ads.
THE QUESTION
Is Kamala Harris’ campaign editing news headlines in Google ads?
THE SOURCES
- Google’s Ads Transparency Center
- Google spokesperson
- Associated Press spokesperson
- The Guardian spokesperson
- Reuters spokesperson
THE ANSWER
Yes, Kamala Harris’ campaign is editing news headlines in Google ads.
WHAT WE FOUND
Kamala Harris’ campaign has launched Google advertisements that link out to legitimate news outlets’ websites, but feature edited headlines and descriptions with pro-Harris messages.
Google and the Harris campaign have defended the practice as legitimate and legal, The Associated Press reported. But three news outlets whose content was used in the advertisements told VERIFY they were unaware of the practice.
Harris isn’t the first political candidate to launch these types of advertisements, either. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn used similar Google ads during Republican primary campaigns, the AP reported.
Google’s Ads Transparency Center didn’t show similar ads launched by Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.
VERIFY found multiple examples of these ads paid for by Harris for President, which have appeared in some people’s Google search feeds in recent weeks, in the search engine’s Ads Transparency Center. The ads with altered headlines and descriptions link out to content published by The Associated Press, NPR, The Guardian, Reuters and The Independent.
For example, one advertisement that links out to The Associated Press website features a headline that reads, “VP Harris’ Economic Vision – Building Up the Middle Class.” The description says, “A future where every person has the opportunity not just to get by but to get ahead. We won’t get back to the failed trickle-down policies that hurt working families.”
Another ad that links out to The Guardian’s website features this headline: “Harris Defends Repro Freedom – VP Harris Fights Abortion Bans.” Its description reads, “VP Harris is a champion for reproductive freedom and will stop Trump’s abortion bans. As President, Kamala Harris will sign into law protections for reproductive freedom.”
Google’s Ads Transparency Center does not provide links to the original articles, so VERIFY could not confirm what the original article titles and descriptions were. VERIFY searched the news websites and did not find any articles that matched the edited headlines on Google. We also reached out to The Guardian and the Associated Press to ask which articles the Harris campaign edited, and did not hear back at the time of publication.
The Associated Press reported that the ad about Harris' economic vision includes a link to a story on the AP website “where those messages do not appear.”
“AP was neither aware of this practice nor would we allow these to run on our website,” Patrick Maks, a spokesperson for the news outlet, told VERIFY.
A spokesperson for The Guardian also told VERIFY the news outlet “didn’t publish these headlines and wasn’t aware the brand was being used this way.”
Reuters was “unaware” the news outlet was “being featured in these advertisements,” a spokesperson said, adding that it is “looking into the matter.”
Google notes the Harris ads are clearly labeled as “sponsored” so they are distinguishable from regular search results, and reveal they are paid for by the Harris campaign, the AP reported.
“It’s fairly common for advertisers to link out to or cite external websites, including news sites, in their ads,” Google said in a statement.
Though the practice is allowed, some experts have still raised concerns about it.
Jane Kirtley, a media ethics professor at the University of Minnesota, told the AP, “What it’s about is confusion and deception.” Kirtley also said she questioned how many people who see the advertisement will click on those links and mistakenly think the ads were quoting from the articles, leading to the perception of bias.
“Their brand is being co-opted for political advertising without permission or prior knowledge,” she said. “It’s fine if they chose to endorse someone, but you don’t want your reporting to be turned into an endorsement.”
AllSides also called on Google and the Harris campaign to end what it called “misleading ads.”
“The Harris campaign is running Google ads that blur the line between campaign content and news reporting. These ads are misleading, misrepresent the original news content, give the appearance of support for her candidacy, and create an impression of bias on the part of the outlets whose content is being promoted. These types of ads should be disallowed from Google,” AllSides CEO John Gable said in a statement.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The VERIFY team works to separate fact from fiction so that you can understand what is true and false. Please consider subscribing to our daily newsletter, text alerts and our YouTube channel. You can also follow us on Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. Learn More »
