Kamala Harris Google processed headlines pose ‘significant ethical concern’: media analyst

The decision by Kamala Harris’ campaign team to doctor Google headlines promoting the Democratic presidential candidate has raised “significant ethical concern” for “misleading” the public, media analysts told The Post on Wednesday.

The vice president’s team launched sponsored posts on the search giant that linked to real news from various unsuspecting publishers like CNN, USA Today, The Guardian and the Associated Press — but contained headlines and descriptions that were edited by her team.

Google called the practice “common” and said the ads did not violate its policies because they were clearly labeled as “sponsored.”

However, Rich Hanley, professor emeritus of journalism at Quinnipiac University, called the marketing move “disturbing” and “exploitative.”

“I think it’s striking a line, and frankly I don’t think Google or the Harris campaign should go anywhere near a line that’s tied to news sources,” Hanley said.

Hanley, who teaches a class on disinformation, said the Harris campaign is “exploiting a weakness in the information ecosystem” that is dangerous in this “climate of misinformation and disinformation.”

“When you’re a campaign trying to win public trust, why would you do something that undermines that?” Hanley said.

He added that even if Google says this is common and adheres to the standards of labeling a paid post as “sponsored”, this case is “deceptive”.

“What they’re really doing is manipulating someone else’s content by changing the titles,” he said. “There has to be a bright, clear line when it comes to news organizations.”

Colin Campbell, associate professor of marketing at the University of San Diego, also said the ads promoting Harris raised red flags.

“This is a significant ethical concern,” he said. “The big deal is that Google allows advertisers to edit headlines. Users may misinterpret the meaning of articles.”

The changed headlines — which appear in Google ads and are paired with a banner “Paid by Harris for President” — were changed without the news media’s knowledge, Axios first reported Tuesday.

For example, a sponsored ad linked to NPR’s website features the headline “Harris Will Cut Health Care Costs” while another linked to the Associated Press reads “VP Harris’ Economic Vision – Lower Costs, Higher Wages” . €

Some in the media called Harris’ campaign Wednesday, demanding some kind of action.

“We’ve reached out to the Harris campaign asking them to represent our content in a way that accurately supports USA Today’s unbiased reporting and is consistent with our ethical standards,” Gannett Media’s chief content officer tweeted on X. Christine Roberts.

Harris’ campaign did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.

Both Hanley and Campbell said the media should continue to oppose Google and the Harris campaign as their journalistic brands are being damaged.

“These ads can change people’s perceptions,” Campbell said. “It stands to reason that Google has some ethical responsibility here.”