The reporter who revealed that the Kamala Harris campaign is running Google ads that contain pro-Harris propaganda in manipulated headlines and descriptions of actual news stories believes the vice president’s camp did “nothing wrong.”
Axios reported Tuesday that the Harris campaign has been running sponsored posts with edited headlines from several news organizations, including CNN, NPR, Reuters, Associated Press, CBS News, The Guardian and TIME. The doctored headlines contain pro-Harris propaganda that was not actually written by the media outlets, but instead referenced actual articles without the media outlets knowing about it.
“This is common practice in the commercial advertising world and does not violate Google’s policies. However, the ads mimic real news results from search so closely that they catch news organizations off guard,” wrote Axios reporter Sara Fischer.
Fischer’s story garnered considerable attention, and she received a barrage of negative responses from liberals on her first X post promoting the piece. Then she drew criticism from conservatives when she clarified to X that the Harris team had done nothing wrong.
Harris campaign manipulated news headlines and inserted pro-Kamala depictions into Google ads
“Harris’ camp is doing nothing wrong and Google, which has a pretty strict ban on spam advertising, doesn’t see any harm to consumers in this either. The news agencies are just collateral damage with this strange advertising tactic,” Fischer wrote.
The Harris campaign reportedly bought ads on Google with manipulated news stories that included a pro-Kamala spin in the headline and description. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Many conservatives and journalists criticized Fischer’s feedback, saying she had published her own scoop under pressure from liberals. Fischer said she was simply saying that the Harris campaign had not violated the tech giant’s policies.
“I just meant that they didn’t violate any of Google’s rules,” she told Fox News Digital when asked for comment, adding that she had not been pressured by the Harris campaign to clarify the story.
Journalist Glenn Greenwald, a frequent critic of the mainstream media, wrote on X: “I was shocked yesterday to see Axios publish an investigation that painted Kamala’s campaign in a negative light. Yet when reporter @sarafischer was attacked for it, she immediately denigrated her own scoop, saying it was no big deal and Kamala did nothing wrong.”
According to Fischer’s report, an ad with a link to the Guardian featured the headline “Vice President Harris fights abortion bans – Harris defends reproductive freedom” and the description “Vice President Harris is a champion of reproductive freedom and will stop Trump’s abortion bans.”
Another NPR piece had the headline “Harris Will Lower Health Care Costs” with the description “Kamala Harris will lower the cost of high-quality, affordable health care.”
One from Reuters simply said “Inflation has fallen” with the description: “Under the Biden-Harris administration, the US is ‘winning the battle against inflation.'”
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Google said the Harris campaign did not violate its rules. (Photographer: Marlena Sloss/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Several news organizations confirmed to Fox News Digital that they had no knowledge that their articles were being used in this way.
A Guardian spokesperson told Axios: “While we understand why an organisation would want to identify with the Guardian’s trusted brand, we need to ensure it is used appropriately and with our permission. We will be reaching out to Google for more information on this practice.”
Axios also noted that “the Trump campaign does not run these types of ads, but this technique has been used by campaigns before,” citing Google’s Ad Transparency Center.
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This practice does not violate Google’s advertising policies. The company says the “Sponsored” label makes them “easily distinguishable from search results,” according to Axios.
Even the left-leaning New Republic was surprised by the Harris campaign’s tactics, writing: “This approach may ultimately prove to be a move that lacks real benefits because of its potential to undermine trust in the news.”
Fox News Digital’s David Rutz and Joseph Wulfsohn contributed to this report.
