Google serves 48% of all ad traffic on “fake” news sites according to a new study from researchers Lia Bozarth and Ceren Budak at the University o

New research shows Google serves almost half of all ad traffic on fake news sites

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2021-06-18 01:30:03

Google serves 48% of all ad traffic on “fake” news sites according to a new study from researchers Lia Bozarth and Ceren Budak at the University of Michigan School of Information.

The researchers analyzed the advertising on sites from a list entitled “False, Misleading, Clickbait-y, and/or Satirical ‘News’ Sources” created by Melissa Zimdars, critical media studies scholar at Merrimack College.

The research from Bozarth and Budak states that, even though big players like Google receive inconsequential revenues from advertising on these scam news websites, they are still “responsible for delivering a substantial fraction of ads on fake and low-quality news sites.”

The study “adds to the case that interventions aimed at reducing the market incentives for mis- and disinformation can be effective,” wrote Justin Hendrix for TechPolicy.