Harris campaign changes headlines of news articles for more favorable Google search results

News articles were reportedly given new headlines without the knowledge of media outlets and they now appear as sponsored ads in Google search results

By Nicholas Ballasy

Published: August 14, 2024 10:35am

Updated: August 14, 2024 10:47am

Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign changed the headlines of news outlets to generate more favorable results in Google searches, according to an analysis released on Tuesday.

Axios reported that the headlines were changed without the knowledge of the media outlets, including The Associated Press, Reuters, CBS News, CNN, NPR, The Independent and The Guardian.

The articles with altered headlines were reposted as advertisements and labeled as sponsored in Google search results.

Facebook, on the other hand, no longer allows advertisers to edit headlines from news links as a way to combat the spread of misinformation.

Former President Trump, the 2024 GOP presidential nominee, reacted to the changed news story headlines on Wednesday.

"Wow! Google and the Harris Campaign are manipulating stories. Is this legal???" he wrote on Truth Social. "Google trying to rig the Election!"

In addition to the changes to news article headlines, Just the News previously reported that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz's 2022 official gubernatorial campaign website is no longer viewable publicly after the Harris campaign redirected it to KamalaHarris.com.