Although Google had announced to take measures during the debate on abortion in the United States, the search engine is anchored again. According A study published on February 6 and conducted by researchers at the Tech Transparency Project, low-income women seeking an abortion are more likely to be targeted by ads and Google results promoting abortion centers.
These anti-abortion centers not only promote themselves, but also use deceptive advertising. On Google, these so-called “crisis” centers pose as clinics that perform abortions, in fact, women are better diverted from the practice. These centers are referenced and promoted by Google particularly for low-income women in states where abortion is strictly limited, such as Arizona.
Researchers conducted tests in three cities: Atlanta, Miami, and Phoenix with fake profiles purporting to represent high-, medium-, or low-income women. In Arizona and Florida, abortion is prohibited after 15 weeks of pregnancy. In Georgia, it is prohibited after six weeks. The researchers then conducted the following Google searches: “abortion clinic near me” and “I want an abortion.”
In Phoenix, 56% of the advertising links that appear in a search by a low-income woman are related to these fake hubs, compared to 7% for a search by a high-income woman. However, in Miami, the researchers do not see a very clear difference in the results. They speculate that abortion centers could target more low-income women in more restrictive states.
“Low-income women are the ones who will suffer the most from these policies,” the newspaper said. The Guardian Katie Paul, director of the Technology Transparency Project. And to continue: “Google influences users a lot because they consider the search engine to be authoritative. Above all, they think that the results they get are the results that everyone else will get. But that’s not the case,” says Katie. Pablo.
For its part, Google reacted to the guardian“We don’t allow advertisers to specifically target a specific segment of the population and we have strict rules on how location can be used to serve locally relevant ads (…) That’s why we require any organization that wants to target advertisements related to abortion that certify the consultations and clearly indicate whether or not they offer abortion services.
This is not the first time that Google has been questioned on the subject. Last year, the digital giant was already the subject of an investigation by the Tech Transparency Project that revealed that the search engine was displaying ads for fake abortion centers. This is a violation of the platform’s rules on deceptive advertising.
Source: BFM TV
