Trump hits Harris over ads that rewrite news headlines
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Former President Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Aug. 8, in Palm Beach, Florida. Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Former President Trump on Wednesday questioned the legality of the Harris campaign editing news headlines within Google search ads in response to Axios reporting.
The big picture: The Harris campaign isn't breaking any rules with the ads, which link out to actual news stories but display headlines favorable to Harris. These types of ads are common on Google, have been used by other political campaigns, and don't violate Google's policies, as Axios reported.
- However, the Trump campaign isn't running these types of ads, according to Google's ad transparency center.
What he's saying: "Wow! Google and the Harris Campaign are manipulating stories. Is this legal?" Trump wrote on social media.
- Reality check: The Harris campaign is actually manipulating the way the stories appear on Google search, rather than changing the stories themselves, as Trump's post suggested.
Driving the news: Harris' campaign has been editing news headlines and descriptions within Google search ads that make it appear as if sites like the Guardian, Reuters, CBS News and other major publishers are praising her.
- While the ads do say they are sponsored, it's not immediately clear that the text alongside the news article is written by the campaign, rather than the publication itself.
- Axios' Sara Fischer first reported about the ads on Tuesday.
Context: A source familiar with the Harris campaign's ads team said the campaign buys search ads with news links to give voters searching for information about her more context.
- 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.)
- "Election advertisers are required to complete an identity verification process and we prominently display in-ad disclosures that clearly show people who paid for the ad," the spokesperson said.
Between the lines: Even though the ads comply with Google's rules, they are awkward for publishers who have no control over ads that could make them appear partisan.
Go deeper: Harris campaign's Google ads rewrite news headlines
