Last updated on December 13th, 2023 at 12:34 pm

A study reveals Google’s profit from misleading search term purchases by anti-abortion groups following the overturning of Roe.

According to a recent study, Google has earned millions of dollars in the past two years by displaying ads that lead users seeking abortion services to “pregnancy crisis centers” that lack actual care facilities.

According to a recent report by the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), a non-profit organization focused on misinformation research, the tech giant has earned around $10 million over a span of two years. This revenue comes from anti-choice organizations that pay to advertise “pregnancy crisis centers” alongside legitimate search results on Google. The study, published on Thursday, suggests that these search results have reached and potentially deceived hundreds of thousands of users.

By utilizing the analytics tool Semrush, the CCDH conducted an estimation of the revenue generated by Google from such advertisers. The study covered the period from March 1, 2021, to February 28, 2023. The report highlights that Google’s failure to enforce policies against these groups has facilitated the growth of a lucrative “cottage industry” of anti-abortion marketing firms. These firms offer prepackaged promotional materials and websites to crisis pregnancy centers.

Imran Ahmed, the co-founder and CEO of the CCDH, expressed concerns over Google’s allowance of highly deceptive practices and its lack of efforts to ensure people are properly informed. Ahmed stated, “This is fundamentally about Google permitting extremely deceptive behavior and doing very little to actually ensure that people are informed.” He further emphasized that Google’s failure to address the gaps in their own regulations has fostered the growth of exploitative marketing companies. These companies provide services that undermine sexual reproductive rights in the United States.

The prevalence of crisis pregnancy centers is a notable issue intertwined with Google’s actions. These centers have been criticized by the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists for unethical operations. They present themselves as legitimate reproductive healthcare clinics while actively discouraging individuals from seeking abortion healthcare. In the United States, crisis pregnancy centers outnumber actual abortion clinics by a ratio of three to one, with approximately 2,600 centers operating across the country.

As federal protections for abortion rights are rolled back, reproductive rights organizations are sounding the alarm on the increasing influence of crisis pregnancy centers in the United States. Access to authentic healthcare options is dwindling, heightening concerns.

Ally Boguhn, a spokesperson for the reproductive rights organization Naral Pro-Choice America, spoke out against these centers, often referred to as crisis pregnancy centers, stating, “At the heart of these fake health centers… is nothing more than lies and misinformation.” Boguhn further emphasized that these centers are notorious for employing deceptive mass messaging and coercive tactics in an attempt to dissuade individuals from accessing abortion care.

Google Search plays a significant role as a primary information source for abortion-related topics, with an estimated 102 million annual searches in the United States. Surpassing word of mouth, Google Search has emerged as the primary referral source for crisis pregnancy clinics, according to a study that analyzed client intake data from a prominent anti-abortion marketing firm.

The CCDH study revealed that these clinics actively pay for advertisements to appear in Google Search results related to over 15,000 distinct abortion-related queries. Examples of such queries include “abortion clinic near me,” “abortion pill,” “abortion clinic,” and “planned parenthood.” Alarmingly, the study also identified that 71% of the clinics employed deceptive advertising practices, disseminating false information claiming a connection between abortions and cancer, among other diseases.

These accusations come in the wake of a previous CCDH study conducted in June 2022. The study revealed that one out of every ten Google searches related to abortion services in “trigger states” – where abortion rights were immediately targeted following the reversal of Roe v. Wade – resulted in referrals to crisis pregnancy clinics.

In response to these concerns, Google’s policy mandates that any organization intending to advertise to individuals seeking information about abortion services must obtain certification and provide clear disclosure regarding their abortion offerings. Michael Aciman, a spokesperson for Google, emphasized the company’s stance on the matter.

Aciman said that Google reviewed the 2022 CCDH report and took action against violating advertisements but found that advertisers named were not violating company policies. He added that, under Google’s policy, advertisers paying to appear under search queries directly related to getting an abortion (for instance, “abortions near me”) must disclose whether they provide abortion services, while those appearing under more general search terms (such as “planned parenthood”) don’t need to.

Despite the mandated disclosure requirement for advertisers regarding the provision of abortion services, researchers argue that such information can be easily missed, particularly if the website itself does not explicitly state its intentions. The CCDH study discovered that 38% of the crisis pregnancy center websites analyzed did not feature any form of disclaimer on their homepages to clarify that they do not provide abortions.

Google made a commitment to prohibit all advertisements related to “abortion pill reversal” following the 2022 CCDH study. This controversial treatment claims to reverse the effects of medication abortion but has been widely criticized by the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists as “dangerous” and lacking scientific basis. The treatment has been deemed unproven and potentially unsafe.