Google Ad Platform Exposes Users to Hate Speech Targeting

Google's advertising platform has come under scrutiny after it was discovered that advertisers can target users who search for hateful terms on its site. The issue was first reported by BuzzFeed, which found that Google allows ad buyers to target messages around antisemitic and racist search terms like 'Jewish parasite' and 'Black people ruin everything.'

The revelations come as Facebook has faced criticism for similar issues with ad targeting. In a separate investigation, ProPublica bought and received approval for Facebook ads aimed at users who had self-reported interest in topics like 'Jew lovers,' “How to burn jews,” or, ‘History of ‘why jews ruin the world.’”

Google's SVP of Ads, Sridhar Ramaswamy, claimed that these particular offensive phrases slipped through the cracks of its enforcement system. He stated that 'Our goal is to prevent our keyword suggestions tool from making offensive suggestions, and to stop any offensive ads appearing.'