Fake News Sites Reportedly Still Running Google AdSense

by Laurie Sullivan@lauriesullivan, December 14, 2016

Web sites circulating fake news continued to use the Google AdSense online advertising service as of December 12 — nearly one month after the Mountain View, California company announced it would implement a ban disallowing them from using its advertising platform to generate revenue, according to analysis released Wednesday.

The analysis, from Media Matters, found Google-hosted ads on at least 24 Web sites known to publish fake news. The site is running a list of those sites, which includes America’s Freedom Fighters, The Angry Patriot, and Tell Me Now.

The ads are marked as “AdChoices” that hyperlink readers to Google’s information page about its advertising services, the report explains.

Google told The Wall Street Journal on December 8 that it was in the process of making changes to its ad-serving procedures after the media agency ran an article on how big brands were funding the Web sites. “We’re in the process of implementing the new policy and these early stages have demanded increased human review,” a Google spokesperson told the WSJ.

In late November, Sharethrough CEO Dan Greenberg published a call to advertisers suggesting they play their part by making sure their ads don’t run on these sites.

Easier said than done, apparently. Fiat Chrysler told the WSJ that it uses software to block ads from appearing on Web sites with hate speech or adult content, but it has no “truth filter” to ensure ads do not end up on fake news sites.

MediaPost.com: Search Marketing Daily

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