Google said Monday it has removed misleading and fraudulent ads targeting Americans looking for information about how to vote in November鈥檚 presidential election.
Google logo. AP file photo
Some of the ads charged fees for registering people to vote, while others sucked up people鈥檚 personal information for marketing purposes. The ads were discovered by the nonprofit tech watchdog Tech Transparency Project.
The group found that search terms such as 鈥渞egister to vote,鈥� 鈥渧ote by mail鈥� and 鈥渨here is my polling place鈥� generated ads linking to websites that charge fees for voter registration, harvest user data, or plant unwanted software on people鈥檚 browsers. Google says such ads are prohibited on its platform.
鈥淲e are committed to protecting users from abuse on our platforms, especially when it comes to information about elections,鈥� said Google spokeswoman Charlotte Smith.