Google helps place ads on sites amplifying Covid-19 conspiracies

Google has taken aggressive action to scrub coronavirus conspiracies from its news service and YouTube, at a time when social media companies have come under intense scrutiny for their potential to spread dangerous disinformation about the global pandemic. It has begun labeling misleading videos aimed at US audiences, and has joined with other major Internet companies to coordinate a response against what the World Health Organization has described as an"infodemic”.

The Global Disinformation Index, a research group, recently reviewed 49 sites running baseless claims about the virus, including the stories about Gates and 5G networks. Alphabet Inc's Google placed ads on 84% of them, generating the majority of the US$135,000 in revenue the sites earned each month, according to the Global Disinformation Index’s estimate.

Google's network ad system is a massive machine for automatically generating money for its owner. Websites apply for Google's programme, and they add display banners and pop-ups advertisements to their pages. Google's system automatically fills these slots with digital marketing and takes about 30% of the revenue they generate.

Often the ads the researchers found made for uncomfortable pairings. The O2 ad ran alongside an article promoting false claims that 5G wireless technology causes people to experience symptoms of coronavirus because it"poisons their cells". In early May, YouTube removed the account of David Icke, a British provocateur who often ranted about"Rothschild Zionists" controlling global institutions and has questioned the efficacy of vaccines. In a recent interview about Covid-19, he said that 5G makes people sick and sends out signals that can control their emotions. Icke had posted on YouTube for more than 14 years.

Jaymie Icke, a spokesman for Icke's video service Ickonic, said the earnings estimate was inaccurate because YouTube has restricted ads on controversial videos for several years."Revenue is nothing and has been for a while," said Icke, who is David Icke’s son."They removed all ads from the channel two months prior to the full deletion anyway. So that figure has simply been made up.

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