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Bloomberg
As part of a wide-ranging investigation into how Russian-linked operatives harnessed social media during the 2016 US election, lawmakers are homing in on Google services including YouTube and Gmail.
The Senate has called Alphabet Inc.’s Google to testify on November 1, along with executives from Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc. A US House of Representatives panel, which is running its own probe, is focussing on any materials on Russian ad buying on Google, search engine manipulations, fake news and the potential uses of YouTube, according to two House committee members. Another target of the inquiry is Gmail, the committee members said.
CNN reported that some Russian-linked ads published on Facebook targeted the key Midwestern states of Michigan and Wisconsin. The ads appeared to target demographic groups crucial to President Donald Trump’s victory, the network said, citing four people it didn’t identify. Google had initially said it found no evidence of targeted tactics like the thousands of election-related ads purchased on Facebook.
Still, the online search giant has a wealth of channels that could be tapped to spread controversial political messages or sow discord online.
There are advertisements that appear on search results; a gigantic ad network, which handles the placement of marketing spots on sites across the web; and Google News, which aggregates stories from various outlets and itself is grappling with ways to handle intentionally false stories. There is also Gmail, the target of high-profile hacks before the election.
Yet Google’s most vulnerable property might be YouTube. The world’s largest digital-video portal is a glut of content. Russia Today, a Kremlin-tied media outlet and a focus of Congressional investigators, has YouTube channels with more than 2.5 million subscribers. Google sells the network, known as RT, in its package of premium ad inventory, which commands higher rates because of its large audience.
After the YouTube boycott began, Google delivered many new tools that gave marketers and agencies more controls on placing ads, and several household name brands may skip buying spots on political channels altogether.