Covid conspiracy sites to net $25m from ads

DIGITAL advertising platforms run by Google, Amazon. com and other tech companies will funnel at least $25m (€22m) to websites spreading misinformation about Covid19 this year, according to a study released yesterday.

Google’s platforms will provide $19m, or $3 out of every $4 that the misinformation sites get in ad revenue. OpenX, a smaller digital ad distributor, handles about 10pc of the money, while Amazon’s technology delivers roughly $1.7m – or 7pc – of the digital marketing spending these sites will receive, according to the Global Disinformation Index (GDI) research group.

GDI made the estimates in a study that analysed ads running between January and June on 480 English language websites identified as publishers of virus misinformation. Some of the ads were for brands including cosmetics giant L’Oreal, furniture website Wayfair and imaging technology company Canon.

The data excludes social media and online video services, so the true total is likely much higher.

Governments and health officials are still learning more about the virus, and this has allowed misinformation to flourish online. Silicon Valley giants have pledged to crack down, and Google has removed ads from sites that violate its policies. However, GDI thinks these platforms need to do more to limit the spread of misinformation.

“The difference between what the companies say publicly about their dedication to not monetising hate speech and harmful content, especially around the pandemic, is not matching up with what our data is telling us that’s actually happening,” said Danny Rogers, GDI co-founder.

In an ad delivered on May 19 by Amazon, a L’Oreal product was promoted on Americanthinker.com next to an article titled “Is Big Pharma Suppressing Hydroxychloroquine?” Earlier this month, Google served up a Bloomberg News ad on the website Bigleaguepolitics.com, according to the report.

The GDI is a UK-based research group that provides disinformation risk ratings on media sites all over the world. GDI said it presented Google, Amazon and OpenX with the latest findings from its report and none provided a formal response. The group updates its research weekly and often tells tech companies when their platforms place ads on misinformation sites.

Brands can help by pulling ads from tech platforms when they see issues like this, Rogers said.