Google uncovers Russian-bought ads aimed at influencing the 2016 election

[dalton99a]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2017/10/09/google-uncovers-russian-bought-ads-on-youtube-gmail-and-other-platforms/
Google uncovers Russian-bought ads on YouTube, Gmail and other platforms
By Elizabeth Dwoskin and Adam Entous | October 9 at 7:00 AM

SAN FRANCISCO — Google for the first time has uncovered evidence that Russian operatives exploited the company’s platforms in an attempt to interfere in the 2016 election, according to people familiar with the company's investigation.

The Silicon Valley giant has found that tens of thousands of dollars were spent on ads by Russian agents who aimed to spread disinformation across Google’s many products, which include YouTube, as well as advertising associated with Google search, Gmail, and the company’s DoubleClick ad network, the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss matters that have not been made public. Google runs the world’s largest online advertising business, and YouTube is the world’s largest online video site.

The discovery by Google is also significant because the ads do not appear to be from the same Kremlin-affiliated troll farm that bought ads on Facebook -- a sign that the Russian effort to spread disinformation online may be a much broader problem than Silicon Valley companies have unearthed so far.

Google previously downplayed the problem of Russian meddling on its platforms. Last month, Google spokeswoman Andrea Faville told The Washington Post that the company is "always monitoring for abuse or violations of our policies and we've seen no evidence this type of ad campaign was run on our platforms."

[Iliyah]

1. OK, I'm am not buying this bullshit either from Google nor Face Book.

They knew.

[democratisphere]

2. Way to little, way to late.

Fakebook, Sh'tter and Boggle aided the distribution of Russian propoganda to overthrow our elections and by extension our democracy. If any of them were monitoring their sites, this would not have happened.

[riversedge]

3. Keep digging google.

[dlk]

4. More Than Uncovering the Truth, the Big Tech Companies Want to Cover their Behinds

Facebook, Google...all of them, they will maybe throw us a bone, but until they are sensibly regulated, we are at their mercy. They did their part to give us Trump. They keep the profits while we pay the price.

[Lint Head]

5. They are trying to SAVE THEIR ASSES by pretending to have "discovered" Russian ads.