Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign has come under scrutiny for running misleading Google search ads that create the illusion of positive news coverage. According to a report by Axios, the Harris campaign has been purchasing Google ads with fabricated headlines, making it seem as though various news outlets are providing favorable coverage of the Democratic nominee. Notably, the Trump-Vance campaign has not employed similar tactics.
These deceptive ads appear in the “Harris for President” Google Ads Center and are designed to resemble genuine news reports. For instance, one ad falsely attributed to the UK Independent reads, “VP Harris Protects Democracy – Trump Defends Jan 6 Comments.” The ad, clearly marked as sponsored content, was paid for by the Harris for President campaign.
Other reputable news outlets, including NPR, the Associated Press, The Guardian, USA Today, PBS, CNN, CBS News, and Time, were also falsely represented in these ads. Axios highlighted one example, where an ad linked to an NPR story claimed, “Harris Will Lower Health Costs,” with text asserting that “Kamala Harris will lower the cost of high-quality affordable health care.”
In another instance, a Guardian-branded ad declared, “VP Harris Fights Abortion Bans – Harris Defends Repro Freedom.” A Guardian spokesperson responded by saying, “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.”
According to Axios, several of the news outlets whose brands were used in these ads were unaware of their involvement. The situation has sparked ethical concerns, with critics accusing the Harris campaign of astroturfing—artificially inflating the appearance of grassroots support.