Topline
A nonprofit focused on disinformation and hate speech claims Google has earned more than $10 million in the past two years from allowing misleading ads by anti-abortion organizations promoting “Crisis Pregnancy Centers” to run on its platform.
Google reportedly earned more than $10 million from ad sales to anti-abortion groups promoting fake ... [+]
Key Facts
According to a report published Thursday by the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), anti-abortion organizations spent $10.2 million over the past two years to advertise fake clinics on Google search.
The report describes so-called “Crisis Pregnancy Centers” as “fake reproductive health clinics” that dissuade and shame people seeking abortions and use “scare tactics based on medical misinformation.”
Spending on fake clinic ads on Google was four times higher than on ads that call for more restrictions on the procedure, the study found.
The groups also spent double the amount on fake clinic ads in states where abortion is legal, compared to states where the procedure has been banned.
Forbes has reached out to Google for comment.
Surprising Fact
The study also found 40% of these “Crisis Pregnancy Centers” websites promote “abortion pill reversal,” unproven treatments that the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says are “not based on science and do not meet clinical standards.”
News Peg
On its advertising policy page, Google notes that any entity running ads using “queries related to getting an abortion” in the U.S., U.K. and Ireland needs to be certified by the company based on if they provide abortion or don’t provide abortion. Uncertified entities will not be allowed to run ads based on these search queries. Based on this certification, the company says it will generate a disclosure in the ad mentioning either “Provides abortions” or “Does not provide abortions.” The CCDH study does not mention if the fake clinics managed to spoof this certification system.
Key Background
Google is not the only company to come under scrutiny for enabling misleading ads about abortion. Last year, The Markup reported that Facebook was running several ads carrying misinformation about “abortion pill reversal.” The report found that while Meta’s social platforms Facebook and Instagram were removing user posts about the distribution or availability of abortion pills, they did not crack down on misleading ads about abortion pill reversal.
