Try it for yourself … google “Bernie 2020”… what do you see?
At the very top of the page is an ad for Uncle Joe, which begins with the words
A champion for hardworking Americans everywhere.
Shame on Uncle Joe for buying such a deceitful ad to intercept donations intended for Bernie, and double-shame on Google for enabling political deception.
Biden supporters, how do you feel about this ad? Do you hate it or do you love it? Let me know in the comments.
Someone in the comments pointed out that I had not done much research about other candidates and ads, which I felt was valid so I just did some now.
There are no ads to be found using the following search phrases:
Buttigieg 2020
mayor pete 2020
pete 2020
Ryan 2020
tim 2020
Castro 2020
julian 2020
Delaney 2020
john 2020
cory 2020
booker 2020
O'Rourke 2020
I only found ads from by the candidate themselves for these search phrases,
tulsi 2020 //but nothing for Gabbard 2020
Harris 2020
Kamala 2020
Hickenlooper 2020
Inslee 2020
Sanders 2020
The top Ad is from Biden for these search phrases,
Biden 2020
joe 2020
Warren 2020
Bernie 2020
beto 2020
From this research, I conclude a few things:
1) It is not true that “everybody does it” regarding placing google ads using search phrases clearly intended to find information about a competing candidate. Biden’s use of this strategy clearly sets him apart from the rest.
2) Biden bought ad space for “Bernie 2020” but not for “Sanders 2020”. And the blurb associated wtih the ad is this: “Wall Street didn't build this country. The middle class did.”
3) Biden currently views Sanders, Warren, and Beto as his most important rivals for the presidency. He is willing to spend money on ad space for them, but not for the other candidates.
JoeBiden 2020 | Joe's in – give and let's win | Donate to help beatTrump
Turns out that Google algorithms are customized for each user, which makes it difficult to discuss search results for various queries. On top of that, I believe that google may have been rolling out new ad buys taken out by one or more candidates in real time immediately after this diary was published. However, I stand by these conclusions:
1) It is not true that “everybody does it” regarding placing google ads using search phrases clearly intended to find information about a competing candidate. Biden’s use of this strategy clearly sets him apart from the rest.
2) Biden bought ad space for “Bernie 2020” but as of 3:00 pm Pacific Time on April 27, 2017, he has not bought ad space for “Sanders 2020”. And the blurb associated wtih the ad varies, but often includes this: “Wall Street didn't build this country. The middle class did.”
Some of us believe the man has incredible chutzpah because he recently said “"I love Bernie, but I'm not Bernie Sanders … I don't think 500 billionaires are the reason we're in trouble. The folks at the top aren't bad guys.”
3) Biden appears to be buying ad space for searches made for other candidates besides Sanders and Warren. But the fact remains that he bought ads against Sanders and Warren first.