Tyler Reporter

Congressman Lance Gooden has demanded answers from Google CEO Sundar Pichai regarding the Kamala Harris campaign's use of Google search ads. According to Gooden, these ads manipulate news headlines to falsely suggest endorsements from major news publications, constituting a deliberate attempt to mislead voters.

In his letter, Congressman Gooden accused Google of exhibiting bias against President Trump. He cited several instances during the current election cycle where he believes Google hindered Trump's ongoing presidential campaign. These include censoring stories about the July 13 assassination attempt on Trump in Pennsylvania, prioritizing positive stories about Kamala Harris in search results for Trump-related queries, and excluding Trump's name from autocomplete suggestions for searches like "President Donald."

Gooden also pointed out that Google's advertising policies allow the Harris campaign to purchase ads within search results that link to news stories with altered headlines favorable to the vice president. He argued that this strategy implies media endorsements for Harris without evidence or consent from those outlets.

“Google has a disturbing track record of implicit bias and election interference that overwhelmingly benefits one political party,” said Congressman Gooden. “If Google is unable or unwilling to take basic steps to safeguard the integrity of our elections, I will work with my colleagues to use every tool at our disposal to ensure accountability.”

The full letter can be read [here](https://gooden.house.gov/2024/8/release-congressman-lance-gooden-demands-google-answer-for-harris-campaign-s-manipulation-of-search-results).