They look like — and link to — real news articles. But they’re actually ads from the Harris campaign

If you’re not looking too closely, some recent Kamala Harris ads may give the false impression that some leading news organizations are taking sides in the campaign for president.

The advertisements, which have turned up in some Google search feeds, include links to legitimate news stories but feature — in words that appear to be headlines from the originating news organizations — pro-Harris messages written by the Democrat’s campaign. They were revealed in an article by Axios this week.

Google and the campaign defend the practice as legitimate and legal, used in the past by both Democrats and Republicans. But it has raised concern from some of the outlets and others.

Said Jane Kirtley, a media ethics professor at the University of Minnesota: “What it’s about is confusion and deception.”

Assorted methods of advertising

While television remains the dominant form of political advertising, the under-the-radar Google ads also indicate there will be many different ways political campaigns try to reach voters this fall.

The Google ads have popped up for consumers making searches, usually in targeted geographic regions. One ad, for example, has the headline, “VP Harris’s Economic Vision — Lower Costs and Higher Wages.” Copy underneath reads, “a future where every person has the opportunity not just to get by but to get ahead. We won’t go back to the failed trickle-down policies that hurt working families.”

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