Manipulating news headlines for political gain is a bipartisan affair

There’s at least one thing Republican and Democratic campaigns both have apparent affinities for: altering news headlines to try and score points with voters.

The campaigns of several Republican elected officials and a former GOP lawmaker have previously manipulated news headlines and article descriptions in Google Search ads to target voters, the Washington Examiner has found.

The latest unearthed ads come after the Washington Examiner reported several Democrats engaged in the same tactic, including the Senate campaigns of Reps. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) and Adam Schiff (D-CA), and the campaign arm of Senate Democrats.

Axios earlier this week reported Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign has taken advantage of the scheme on an even greater level, which involves promoting real news links on Google searches but changing the headline and description previews to appear more favorable.

A review of Google’s Ad Transparency Center shows the campaigns of Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Mike Braun (R-IN), Gov. Brian Kemp (R-GA), Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN), and former Illinois GOP Rep. Rodney Davis used the tactic against political rivals, promoting media stories but crafting their own display headlines and subtexts to either bolster themselves or tarnish their opponents.

The practice is allowed by Google and used across the political spectrum. But critics, including news outlets, say the scheme is deceptive to voters seeking more information about candidates or issues. Facebook, in an effort to “stop the spread of misinformation and false news,” banned the ability in 2017 of advertisers to alter news headlines.

One campaign that engaged in the practice but declined to comment on the record defended doing so, making the case that its intent is not to mislead and that the changes are in line with the context of linked stories. They deflected blame on Google for not only allowing the practice but allegedly encouraging it by offering campaigns a blank slate for headlines and descriptions when promoting such stories.

In a statement, a Google spokesperson noted each Google Search ad must have disclosures showing the material is sponsored and who it’s funded by.

“These ads are explicitly labeled as ‘Sponsored’ so that they’re easily distinguishable from Search results, and they also include ‘paid for by’ disclosures so it’s clear to users who paid for them,” the spokesperson said. “It’s fairly common for advertisers across the political spectrum to link to external websites, including news sites, in the text of their ad.”

Google’s explanation was evidently unsatisfactory for WDAY Radio, a local news outlet in Fargo, North Dakota. The Harris campaign used three variations of Google Search ads linking to the family-owned station’s website to make it appear it endorsed Harris tapping Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) as her running mate.

WDAY President and Managing Partner Steve Hallstrom told the Washington Examiner they’re seeking legal counsel and weighing potential action against the Harris campaign and Google.

In a Google Search ad last month, Blackburn’s campaign promoted a story from the conservative Tennessee Star to whack primary rival Tres Wittum for endorsing a clearer pathway to citizenship for migrants. The ad’s fictitious headline read “Tres Wittum supports illegals,” along with the description “Wittum supports illegal immigration. He wants illegals to become citizens in Tennessee.”

Wittum said in an interview he was aware of the ad.

“It’s dishonest, manipulative, and shameful, but I think those three words sum up the United States Senate and their integrity at this moment,” Wittum said. “In a world of artificial intelligence and deep fake where things can be so manipulated, people are looking for authenticity.”

Blackburn defeated Wittum in the GOP primary this week with nearly 90% of the vote.

Banks, who’s running for Braun’s Indiana Senate seat that Braun is vacating to run for governor, used Google Search ads five times in the past year to take on former Republican Senate hopeful John Rust.

Rust’s family-owned company was convicted last year of price-gouging the cost of eggs. Banks’s campaign made it appear in the ads as though the Indiana Capital Chronicle urged readers “don’t trust John Rust!” Other ads made it seem like the conservative Breitbart wrote “Liberal John Rust doesn’t care about Americans” or that Rust was dubbed by the outlet “RINO John Rust.”

Another ad bore a nonexistent headline from Georgia Law News saying “Acknowledge Laken Riley,” a reference to the Georgia nursing student who was killed allegedly by an immigrant who was in the United States illegally.

In his 2022 reelection, Kemp’s campaign included in an ad only the first few words of a lengthy Washington Post headline to take on his then-primary opponent, former Sen. David Perdue (R-GA): “Sen. Perdue Became Wealthy.”

Braun, in his 2018 election, and Davis, in his 2022 primary that he ultimately lost, both altered Washington Examiner stories to promote themselves.

Description text of a Braun ad, which appeared nowhere in an original story about him supporting medical insurance companies having to cover preexisting conditions, stated, “Mike Braun supported covering pre-existing conditions, before it’s cool. He didn’t wait for Washington and won’t as your Senator.”

Davis, who was unseated by Rep. Mary Miller (R-IL), used a description to make it appear a story called him “a champion in Congress for our troops” and that “his opponent turned her back.”

Former President Donald Trump touched briefly on the advertising scheme this week in light of its use by the Harris campaign, questioning its legality in a post on Truth Social.

“Wow! Google and the Harris Campaign are manipulating stories. Is this legal?” Trump wrote.

The Washington Examiner reached out to Blackburn, Banks, Kemp, Davis, Braun, Miller, Breitbart, Washington Post, and the Indiana Capital Chronicle for comment. Georgia Law News could not be reached.