Report: Misleading Abortion Ads Made Google $10M

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Facts

  • According to a report released by the non-profit investigative watchdog group Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) Thursday, Google is allegedly making millions of dollars off ads from groups seeking to steer those seeking abortions to crisis pregnancy centers that don’t provide abortion services.1
  • The report claims that deceptive ads — which targeted 15K Google searches related to abortion, including the abortion pill, abortion clinic, and Planned Parenthood – brought in $10.2M for the tech firm between March 1, 2021 and February 28, 2023.2
  • Researchers found that at least 71% of the clinics that advertised on Google Search were fake and used deceptive tactics about abortion, including promoting misleading claims linking abortion to cancer, to target women seeking reproductive care.3
  • Using data from the SEO and marketing analytics tool Semrush, the CCDH researchers found a massive spike in fake advertising roughly six months before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.4
  • Moreover, multiple marketing firms reportedly helped fake clinics spuriously access Google’s Ad Grant scheme, which offers non-profit organizations up to $10K a month in free ad credits, without disclosing in their ad whether they did or did not provide abortions.5
  • In addition, the report suggests that anti-abortion groups spent four times more on Google Search ads that misled users than on ads for campaigns to restrict abortion care. Moreover, fake clinics spent twice as much in states where abortion is legal, including Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and California.3

Sources: 1Independent, 2The Hill, 3Quartz, 4Wired and 5Time.

Narratives

  • Narrative A, as provided by Fortune. Google is violating the trust of its users at a crucial time for those seeking accurate information on abortion. Instead of closing the gaps in its service terms and preventing frivolous ads from deceiving users, the search engine has become a leading referral service for fake health clinics.
  • Narrative B, as provided by Forbes. The so-called fake clinics in the CCDH’s report adhered to the company’s policy, which mandates advertisers targeting abortion-related searches get certified before they run ads. This study is flawed and biased — Google does its best to prevent deceptive ads from misleading users.

Predictions