WARNING: This empirical research report – which is based on publicly available information - contains pornographic and zoophilic content which may not be suitable for all audiences or for the workplace environment. Reader discretion is strongly advised.
DISCLAIMER: This study does not allege that any entities violated US Treasury or international sanctions or any other anti-money laundering (AML) laws. This research is not a legal document, it is not intended to provide legal advice, and the report does not make any allegations or claims that any laws were violated.
A major Fortune 500 brand that has been working with Adalytics for some time was recently surprised to learn that their search ads – which they assumed were exclusively being served on the search engine page google.com – were in fact also being served on many websites that make up the Google Search Partner (GSP) network. These included websites such as Breitbart.com, sites containing pirated content, hardcore pornographic sites, and hundreds of putative Iranian websites, which may potentially be under US Treasury Office of Foreign Assets (OFAC) sanctions.
The brand’s ads were also observed being served on websites which are specifically named in the US Treasury OFAC Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list under US Presidential Executive Orders.
Screenshot of Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) search ads being served on iasco.ir, the website of the Iranian Alloy Steel Company based in Tehran. The company is under US Treasury OFAC sanctions under US Presidential Executive Order 13871 – “Imposing Sanctions With Respect to the Iron, Steel, Aluminum, and Copper Sectors of Iran”
Screenshot US Treasury (US Mint) search ads being served on gpsm.ru, the website of the AO Institute Giprostroymost-Saint-Petersburg, in St. Petersburg, Russia. The company is under US Treasury OFAC sanctions under US Presidential Executive Order 13685 – “Blocking Property of Certain Persons and Prohibiting Certain Transactions With Respect to the Crimea Region of Ukraine”
Screenshot of US Army search ads being served on iasco.ir, the website of the Iranian Alloy Steel Company based in Tehran. The company is under US Treasury OFAC sanctions under US Presidential Executive Order 13871 – “Imposing Sanctions With Respect to the Iron, Steel, Aluminum, and Copper Sectors of Iran”
Of particular concern was the fact that this brand reported that some of the websites where their ads were being observed – such as Breitbart.com – were allegedly on the brand’s account-level domain exclusion list (i.e. blocklist) for years. This raises the possibility that ads were served on websites and publishers despite the brand’s deliberate efforts to achieve brand safety and exercise control over their media investments.
Other companies such as BMW and Uber Technologies, Inc., which “had specifically requested that its ads not appear on Breitbart at all” and “tried to stop having its ads run on” Breitbart, were observed to have their search ads on Breitbart specifically as recently as November, 2023.
Screenshot of a Uber search ad observed on Breitbart.com in November, 2023.
Screenshot of BMW USA search ads serving on Breitbart.com via Google AdSense seller ID partner-pub-9229289037503472. BMW previously told the New York Times that the company had blocked “their ads from the site, a practice known as blacklisting”.
Screenshot of Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) search ads on pornocriceto.com (Italian for “Hamster Porn”). The website says: “Usa il nostro motore di ricerca avanzata powered by Google™ per trovare subito il porno che cerchi”, which translates from Italian as: “Use our advanced search engine powered by Google™ to instantly find the porn you're looking for.”
Screenshot of a search for Publicis media agency, served on a Russian pornographic website via the Search Partners network.
Lastly, the Fortune 500 brand and their media agency reported that they could not find any way to export a report showing on which specific websites their search ads were served on as part of the Google Search Partners network. As such, the brand and the agency were unable to quantify their exposure or confirm the prevalence with which their ads been placed on Breitbart.com, pornographic websites, Iranian websites, or websites which are on the Treasury OFAC SDN list.
Google’s own documentation state: “Google Ads doesn't provide information detailing the website where your ad was shown on the Search Network”.
Screenshot from Google Ads Help documentation, showing that Google Ads does not provide information on which websites in the Google Search Partner network ads were shown.
Screenshot of a US Department of Treasury search ad being served on a putative Iranian website called arshadsara.ir.
Google’s public online documentation states: “By creating a campaign for the Search Network, you acknowledge that our policies meet any image and reputation standards you may have for your company.”
However, it may be difficult for some brands to assess whether Google’s policies on the Search Partner network are consistent with their brand safety thresholds if they lack easy to access reporting on search partner ad placements.
Given the concerns expressed to Adalytics by one of Adalytics’ brand clients, Adalytics investigated and studied the Google Search Partners (GSP) network. The objective of this study was to use publicly available information to get better insight into what sorts of websites are included in the GSP network, as the brand and their agency were unable to readily obtain this information themselves.
Adalytics used publicly available information and open-source methodologies to explore which websites are in the GSP network. During collection of this public information, many other brands’ ads were observed serving on websites that are in the GSP network.
The list of brands and advertisers whose Google search ads were observed displayed on US Treasury OFAC SDN sanctioned, Iranian, and/or pornographic websites includes:
The United States Treasury
The European Commission
Media agencies such as Publicis, Jellyfish, and Goodway Group
Political fundraising search ad campaigns for Speaker Mike Johnson, Senator Ted Cruz, Senator Amy Klobuchar, Congressman David Trone, Congresswoman Lauren Boebert, Congressman Matt Gaetz, House Minority Speaker Hakeem Jeffries, the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), Republican National Committee (RNC) and Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC), and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC)
The US Department of Homeland Security, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), US Secret Service, Department of Defense (Military OneSource), US Intelligence Community, National Security Agency (NSA), US Department of Transportation, Department of Veteran Affairs, General Services Administration (GSA), and US Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (healthcare.gov),
British Intelligence (MI6 and GCHQ)
US Army, Air Force, Coast Guard, National Guard, Space Force, the British Royal Air Force, the Dutch Ministry of Defense, and the Belgian Ministry of Defense
Hundreds of major and Fortune 500 brands, including Apple, Lego, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), Deloitte, Accenture, KPMG, Microsoft, Amazon, BMW, Home Depot, Uber, Google, Meta, Samsung, Paramount+, TikTok, Pinterest, Snap Chat, and Snowflake
Ad tech vendors such as Human Security & DoubleVerify
Non-profits such as United Jewish Appeal, International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, One for Israel, American Cancer Society, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Save The Children, and the British Heart Foundation
Several major media publishers, such as the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, The Guardian, The Financial Times, The Globe & Mail, The Economist, Business Insider, USA Today, Axios, Hearst Magazines, and Morning Brew
Several chocolate, soda, and alcohol brands and alcohol distributors had their search ads served on websites intended for children.
Of particular concern was the fact that many brands in regulated industries appeared to have had their search ads served on Iranian websites. This included several Fortune 500 banks and investment funds.
One of the brands whose search ads were observed on Iranian and OFAC Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) websites was the French bank BNP Paribas, which previously pled guilty to “conspiring to violate […] US economic sanctions”, and paid a fine of $8.9 billion dollars to the US Department of Justice.
Screenshot of a BNP Paribas search ad being served on being served on iasco.ir, the website of the Iranian Alloy Steel Company based in Tehran. The Iranian company is under US Treasury OFAC sanctions under US Presidential Executive Order 13871 – “Imposing Sanctions With Respect to the Iron, Steel, Aluminum, and Copper Sectors of Iran
A former head of global media for a major financial services institution told Adalytics:
“While having our ads appear on virtually any of the sites listed in the study would be extremely problematic; financial services ads showing up on websites based in Iran, which is under sanction by the Federal Government would require the firm to alert the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and trigger a process that would likely lead to fines and public scrutiny that would impact everything from reputation to share price to customer demand. No one cares about the fact that it’s a failure of the tech vendor to steward the advertiser’s investments correctly when they see the screenshot of the advertiser’s ad on these unsavory or illegal sites.”
A global head of media at a Fortune 500 company stated:
“One of the important objectives of agencies are they protect brands from unsafe environment, some of the references in the report showed how agencies themselves are vulnerable to this unsafe setting which questions their ability to protect brands from web pages which are detrimental to brand image. Brand safety as a topic needs a thorough investigation especially given that search safety capabilities are not-available/limited from current custodians of Brand safety providers which should be a huge concern basis safety issues on search demonstrated by this report. Given a huge part of brands investments are on Search, Industry needs to put this topic as one of the priorities for 2024 and push for better products and measurement in the field of Brand Safety.”
One brand executive who reviewed an advanced copy of this report commented:
“The adjacency to unsafe, unsuitable, and in some cases illegal sites would be a serious concern for brands, regardless of whether any money has changed hands. Brands do not want to be seen to endorse the wrong type of content by appearing alongside it, because of the reputational damage it may cause. Their ads appearing on objectionable sites is a significant problem in its own right, with or without monetization (i.e. a click). Many web users will not be familiar with the Cost per Click (CPC) model used in Paid Search and therefore may assume that the brand has already paid for that ad placement, even if they do not click on the ad.”
A member of the European Parliament (MEP) Paul Tang commented:
"It's the first time in history, we face the unsettling reality of AI committing crimes. Google's advertising algorithms demand scrutiny. The EU Commission must wield its audit powers to demand transparency and accountability about […] the PMax and other ad bidding algorithms. This report unveils a very inconvenient double standard: by having the Commission's ads displayed on websites of sanctioned Russian and Iranian companies, the Commission may be defying the very sanctions it has proposed. It's not just a potential breach of EU law; it may be an act of funding Russia and Iran. The EU Commission must investigate whether and how much money is changing hands alongside these ad placements."
Table of Contents
Background – What is the Google Search Partners (GSP) network? 14
Background – Google Programmable Search Engine 15
Background – AdSense for Search (AFS) & AdSense Custom Search Ads 21
Background – All new Google Search campaigns are automatically opt-ed into the Partners network 23
Background – Google Custom Search Ads, AdSense Program, and Publisher policies 28
Background – Programmable Search Engine Terms of Services 32
Background – Google Search is not Media Rating Council (MRC) accredited for Brand Safety 33
Background – What are Google “Performance Max” campaigns? 36
Exploratory research objectives & aims 36
Methodology – Identifying putative Google Search Partners websites 37
Results – 36,612 putative Google Search Partner websites 43
Results – potential pornographic websites in the Google Search Partners network 65
Results – search ads observed on putative Iranian websites 87
Results – potential copyright infringing websites in the Google Search Partners network 95
Results – potential child-directed websites 107
Results - Domains which appear to auto re-direct to pages with pre-populated search query terms 110
Results – brands whose search ads were observed on Breitbart.com 150
Results – advertisers whose search ads were observed on Iranian & pornographic GSP sites 158
Results – US federal government ads observed on Iranian & pornographic GSP sites 158
Results – British intelligence ads observed on Iranian, Russian & pornographic GSP sites 171
Results – Major brands whose ads were served on GSP sites 206
Results – Media agencies whose ads were observed on SDN Iranian & pornographic GSP sites 216
Results – European Commission search ads observed on Russian, Iranian, or pornographic sites 236
Results – Google ads observed on SDN sanctioned, Iranian, & pornographic GSP websites 239
Results - Candy, soda, cleaning detergent, and alcohol ads observed on child-directed websites 251
Secondary exploratory research objectives & aims 264
6.7% of examined search campaign ad budget was spent on Search Partners & Display Expansion 265
Considerations for brands & advertisers 272
Background
Background – What is the Google Search Partners (GSP) network?
In certain ways, the Google Search Partner (GSP) network is to Google Search ads as the Google Video Partner network (GVP) is to YouTube TrueView video ads.
According to Google’s documentation, “The Google Search Network is a group of search-related websites and apps where your ads can appear. When you advertise on the Google Search Network, your ad can show near search results when someone searches with terms related to one of your keywords.”
Google’s documentation states that: “Sites in the Search Network that partner with Google to show ads and free product listings. Search partners extend the reach of Google Search ads and listings to hundreds of non-Google websites, as well as YouTube and other Google sites. On search partners sites, your ads and listings can appear on search results pages, site directory pages or other pages related to a person's search.”
Screenshot from Google Ads Help definition for “Search partners”
Google’s online documentation shows how AdSense supported publisher websites can include ads on search result pages.
Screenshot from Google AdSense Help for how to add a Google-powered search engine to a website and earn revenue from showing ads alongside search page results on a website.
Background – Google Programmable Search Engine
Many websites in the Google Search Partners network utilize the Google Programmable Search Engine. This search engine – which was formerly known as Google Custom Search and Google Co-op) is a tool that allows web developers to create customized search engines. It is also sometimes described as Google Site Search (GSS).
Google’s online documentation states: “Programmable Search Engine lets you create a search engine for your website, your blog, or a collection of websites.”
The documentation also explains: “Add a customizable search box to your web pages and show fast, relevant results powered by Google Search.”
Screenshot of the Google Programmable search engine landing page
There are many websites which embed and use the custom search widget on their websites. For example, the US Department of Justice’s official justicegrants.usdoj.gov website embeds the custom search widget, and allows site visitors to search for various internal pages on the usdoj.gov website.
The screenshot below shows the justicegrants.usdoj.gov website, with chrome developer tools open. The left side of the screenshot shows a Google custom search widget, with the words “Enhanced by Google” visible in the corner. The right side of the screenshot shows the source code of the page, with the JavaScript for the custom search engine – cse.google.com/cse.js – highlighted in green.
Screenshot of the justicegrants.usdoj.gov website, with chrome developer tools open. The left side of the screenshot shows a Google custom search widget, with the words “Enhanced by Google” visible in the corner. The right side of the screenshot shows the source code of the page, with the JavaScript for the custom search engine – cse.google.com/cse.js – highlighted in green.
The “standard” Google custom search engine is free to use for web developers. In exchange for powering the search widget on a blog or third-party websites, Google receives the option of inserting sponsored search ads in the embedded search widget. The website owner receives a useful, free functionality (custom search) and Google receives the ability to place search advertisements on the third party blogs and websites which host the custom search widgets.
Google’s documentation states: “Get it for free or a low price Pay nothing — and even earn revenue — by showing relevant ads with AdSense, or pay a low price for an ad-free experience.”
For various reasons, website owners may desire to have the functionality of Google custom search on their webpages, but not have any search ads inserted by Google.
Screenshot of a Google Programmable Search Engine Help forum discussion, wherein a government organization discusses removing ads from their search results.
There are two ways that a website can leverage Google custom search without having search ads inserted on their webpages.
The first – if a website is operated by a non-profit or a government entity – the website owner can contact Google and request their custom search account be opt-ed out of having any search ads displayed. Google’s documentation states: “Note that our nonprofit, education, and government users can get an ads-free experience by following these instructions.”
Screenshot of Google’s online public documentation, showing how non-profits and government entities can disable ads from being shown on their webpages.
The second – website developers can pay for various Google search APIs. A website can choose to pay $5 per thousand search queries on its website’s Google custom search, and no ads will be placed on the website.
The chart from Google’s online public documentation below illustrates how third party websites can opt out of having search ads inserted into their custom search widgets by either paying per query or by being a non-profit entity.
Chart illustrating which versions of the Google Programmable Search Engine host ads. Source: Google Programmable Search Engine Help
Google’s online public documentation for Programmable Search Engine illustrates how website developers can deploy the custom search engine widgets on their webpages by adding a piece of JavaScript code. This JavaScript code’s source attribute is “cse.google.com/cse.js”. The website developer needs to apply for and append a unique “cx” value, which is the developer’s Programmable Search Engine ID.
Screenshot of Google’s online public documentation for the Programmable Search Engine.
Searching for the “cse.google.com/cse.js” across the open web can help researchers identify which specific websites are hosting or embedding Google Custom Search engine widgets on their websites.
Background – AdSense for Search (AFS) & AdSense Custom Search Ads
As described in the previous section, unless a website developer chooses to pay for using the Google custom search API or opt-out by virtue of being a non-profit entity, Google search ads will be served on the developer’s website when users input specific queries.
The website developer can choose to monetize these search results for themselves and engage in a revenue sharing with Google. This can be done via “AdSense for search” (AFS) or “AdSense Custom Search Ads”.
Google’s public documentation states that: “AdSense for search lets you offer your users Google web search directly from your pages. By placing an AdSense for search box on your site, you'll generate earnings from ad clicks made by users on the search results pages.”
Google’s public documentation for AdSense Custom Search Ads states: “Monetize search results in your site, mobile site or mobile application just like Google. By adding just a few lines of code, we can match our highly targeted ads with your search results. You control the look and feel; we deliver the ads. When users click, you earn revenue.”
According to Google’s public documentation, AdSense Custom Search Ads can be embedded by appending a specific piece of JavaScript code to a website – “google.com/adsense/search/ads.js”.
Screenshot of Google’s public “AdSense Custom Search Ads for Web” online documentation, showing JavaScript code that can be appended to a developer’s website.
When a website enables Custom Search Ads with a linked AdSense ID for revenue sharing, the website’s developer can add an AdSense client-ID. This ID has the format of the prefix “partner-“ followed by a pubId.
Screenshot from Google AdSense documentation describing the pubId.
Google’s AdSense documentation shows an example, wherein the pubId for a given example is the string “partner-pub-“ followed by 16 numerical digits.
Screenshot of Google AdSense Help, illustrating an example Google Custom Search Ads configuration with a pubId.
In addition to AdSense for Search on websites, there is an AdSense for Search for Mobile Apps (AFSMA), with implementations for the Android and iOS mobile device operating systems.
Background – All new Google Search campaigns are automatically opt-ed into the Partners network
Google’s public documentation states that: “When you create a campaign for the Search Network, search partners are included by default.”
Screenshot from Google Ads Help online documentation, showing that the Google Search Partners (GSP) network is automatically included in new search campaigns by default.
To exclude the Google Search Partners network from search campaigns, advertisers need to use the Google Ads user interface to select “Networks” and uncheck the box for “Include Google search partners.”
Screenshot from Google Ads Help online documentation, showing that the Google Search Partners (GSP) network can be opt-ed out of.
Screenshot of an ad buying interface, with “Search Network” enabled. Source: diydigitalstrategy.com
Background – Search network publishers receive 51% of the revenue share for search ads on their sites
According to Google’s online documentation, publishers and websites which monetize via AdSense and enable AdSense for search ads “receive 51% of the revenue recognized by Google. These percentages are consistent, regardless of a publisher's geographic location”.
Screenshot of Google AdSense Help documentation, showing that AdSense for search partners receive 51% of the search ads revenue recognized by Google.
AdSense publishers and website owners only get paid if a consumer sees and clicks on a search ad.
According to Google’s online documentation, website owners “won't, however, receive revenue from user searches through your AdSense for Search box. When users perform searches on your site, but choose not to click on the ads on the search results pages, you will not receive any earnings.”
Screenshot of Google AdSense Help documentation, showing that Adsense for search partners only get paid if a user clicks on a search ad.
Screenshot of Google Programmable Search Engine Help documentation, showing that Adsense for search partners only get paid if a user clicks on a search ad.
Background – Google Ads does not provide information on where advertisers’ search partners ads served
According to Google’s online documentation, “Google Ads doesn't provide information detailing the website where your ad was shown on the Search Network”.
Screenshot from Google Ads Help documentation, showing that Google Ads doesn’t provide information detailing the website where your ad was shown on the search Network.
Background – Google Custom Search Ads, AdSense Program, and Publisher policies
Google has various published policies for Custom Search Ads, AdSense for Search, AdSense, and Publishers.
For example, the public online documentation states: “These policies apply to the use of Google's AdSense for Search (AFS) services through the Custom Search Ads (CSA) protocol.” The policies state that: “The search box may not be pre-populated with search terms, and publishers may not create links containing pre-populated search terms.”
Furthermore, the documentation states: “As described in the AdSense Program policies, copyrighted content or content that violates our site content guidelines should not be the focus of your searchable content.”
Screenshot of the public Google AdSense Help – Ads for search – Custom Search Ads policies
The public Google AdSense Program policies state that “All publishers are required to adhere to the Google Publisher Policies”. It further states: “AdSense code may not be placed in inappropriate places such as pop-ups, emails or software.” “Google ads, search boxes or search results may not be: […] Displayed in pop-ups or pop-unders, including where a page containing Google ads, search boxes, or search results is loaded in a pop-up or pop-under.” The policies further state: “Sites showing Google ads should be easy for users to navigate. Sites may not change user preferences, redirect users to unwanted websites, initiate downloads, include malware or contain pop-ups or pop-unders that interfere with site navigation.”
The public Google Publisher Policies states: “We do not allow content that: infringes copyright. It is our policy to respond to notices of alleged infringement that comply with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).”
Screenshot of the public Google AdSense Help Google Publisher Policies.
Furthermore, the policies state: “We do not allow content that: includes graphic sexual text, image, audio, video, or games. Examples: Sex acts such as genital, anal, and/or oral sex; masturbation; cartoon porn or hentai; graphic nudity.”
Screenshot of the public Google AdSense Help Google Publisher Policies.
The public Google Publisher Policies further state: “Google must comply with sanctions and export controls maintained by the United States Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)”. “As a result, Google publisher products are not available to publishers in the following countries or territories:”, “Iran”.
“Google publisher products also may not be used for or on behalf of a party located in the above listed sanctioned countries or regions. In addition, Google publisher products are not eligible for any entities or individuals that are restricted under applicable trade sanctions and export compliance laws. Google publisher products are not eligible for entities or individuals owned or controlled by or acting for or on behalf of such restricted entities or individuals. Publishers must also comply with applicable sanctions and export regulations, which includes OFAC sanctions, and agree to not cause Google to violate these regulations. You cannot use Google publisher products for or on behalf of restricted entities or individuals. You cannot use Google publisher products for or on behalf of entities or individuals located in sanctioned countries or regions.”
Screenshot of the public Google AdSense Help Google Publisher Policies.
Background – Google asserts websites which violate Google policies “will be removed from the Search Network”
Google’s online public documentation states that: “All Search Network partner sites are obligated to comply with our Google policies.”
Furthermore, “In case of violation of these Google policies by one of our Search Network partner sites, it will be removed from the Search Network.”
Screenshot of Google Ads Help public online documentation
Background – Google’s documentation’s asserts buyers “acknowledge that our policies meet any image and reputation standards”
Screenshot of Google Ads Help public online documentation
Google’s public online documentation states that: “By creating a campaign for the Search Network, you acknowledge that our policies meet any image and reputation standards you may have for your company.”
Background – Programmable Search Engine Terms of Services
Google publishes Terms of Services for the Programmable Search Engine.
These Terms of Services state: “Further, the Site shall not contain any pornographic, hate-related or violent content or contain any other material, products or services that violate or encourage conduct that would violate any criminal laws, any other applicable laws, Service policies, or any third party rights.”
Screenshot of the public Google Programmable Search Engine Terms of Service
Background – Google Search is not Media Rating Council (MRC) accredited for Brand Safety
According to the website of the Media Ratings Council (MRC), it does not appear that Google Search or Search Partners (GSP) have been accredited by the MRC for brand safety.
Google Search and GSP do not appear to allow independent third party verification pixels or JavaScript tags to be deployed to allow advertisers to independently monitor where their ads are being served.
Google appears to have received the “Brand Safety Certified” seal from the Trustworthy Accountability Group (TAG).
Screenshot of the Trustworthy Accountability Group (TAG) Registry website, showing that Google has “achieved the Brand Safety Certified seal”, through “independent validation by a third-party auditor”.
Section 4.5.a – “Content Taxonomy” of the TAG Brand Safety Certification Guidelines, states that: “Digital advertisements may not be displayed in association with any content categories defined in Appendix B.”
Screenshot of the Section 4.5.a – “Content Taxonomy” of the TAG Brand Safety Certification Guidelines
Appendix B includes “The 12 “Brand Safety Floor” as defined by the GARM.”
These include:
Adult & Explicit Sexual Content
Arms & Ammunition
Crime & Harmful Acts to Individuals and Society and Human Right Violations
Death Injury, or Military Conflict
Online Piracy
Hate Speech & Acts of Aggression
Obscenity and Profanity
Illegal Drugs/Tobacco/E-Cigarettes/ Vaping/Alcohol
Spam or Harmful Content
Terrorism
Sensitive Social Issues
Misinformation
Background – Researchers allege that up to 29% of clicks coming from search ads are bots or invalid
There is relatively little publicly available, independent research on the question of how much clickthrough activity on Google Search ads is invalid traffic or bots clicking on ads.
However, the Chief Technology Officer of Oxford BioChronometrics, an ad fraud detection vendor, has published empirical research papers on “Quantifying Online Advertising Fraud: Ad-Click Bots vs Humans.”
Oxford BioChronometrics published their own measurement data (which may or may not be representative of other ad campaigns or measurement methodologies), which states that their methodology found that 29.83% of clicks originating from Google Search were “Click fraud”.
Screenshot of a Linkedin Post from Oxford BioChronometrics
The methodology of Oxford BioChronometrics and the resulting dataset may or may not be a representative assessment of wider click fraud metrics for Google Search ad campaigns. Adalytics takes no position on the accuracy or representativeness of the measurements of Oxford BioChronometrics.
Background – What are Google “Performance Max” campaigns?
According to Google’s documentation, “Performance Max is a new goal-based campaign type that allows performance advertisers to access all of their Google Ads inventory from a single campaign. It's designed to complement your keyword-based Search campaigns to help you find more converting customers across all of Google's channels like YouTube, Display, Search, Discover, Gmail, and Maps.”.
Performance Max “combines Google's AI technologies” and “audiences” and “audience signals”.
“Performance Max uses machine learning models to optimize bids and placements to drive conversions or conversion value for your goals, but you can provide important inputs like audience signals.”
Source: Google’s online documentation on Performance Max campaigns
Exploratory research objectives & aims
Given concerns expressed to Adalytics by one of Adalytics’ Fortune 500 brand clients, this study primarily sought to utilize publicly available and open-source information to:
Identify which websites appear to have embedded Google custom search engines on their pages?
Identify which websites appear to have search ads served on them via the Google Search Partners (GSP) network?
While it was not a primary focus or objective of this research study, Adalytics also observed a sample of brands and advertisers who appeared to have search ads serving on the Google Search Partners (GSP) network.
The study is not intended to be comprehensive, but rather, exploratory in nature.
Methodology – Identifying putative Google Search Partners websites
As discussed in the Background section of this report, websites which deploy the Google custom search engine on their pages generally insert a specific piece of JavaScript code. This code creates and enables the search widget on websites, with which site visitors interact with and potentially see search ads displayed on.
Screenshot of Google’s online public documentation for the Programmable Search Engine.
The specific piece of JavaScript code is tag that is loaded from the endpoint: “cse.google.com/cse.js”. As such, filtering through public crawler archives for websites with this specific JavaScript code can help identify websites which had at that time enabled the custom search widget on their pages.
Screenshot from the public URLScan.io crawler archive, filtering for websites which were observed as loading JavaScript from “cse.google.com/cse.js”. These websites are likely to have the Google Custom Search Engine widget on their pages.
Adalytics leveraged various crawler data sources, from publisher intelligence vendor DeepSee.io and from public crawler archives such as URLScan.io and HTTP Archive, to identify websites which appeared to load the “cse.google.com/cse.js” JavaScript code on their webpages. This was done as an initial exploratory pass to identify sites which had – at least one point in time – included the custom search engine widget on their own webpages. The custom search engine code also invokes and serves a second piece of JavaScript –“cse.google.com/adsense/search/async-ads.js”, which can be used as a secondary selector to help search through and filter public archives to enumerate websites which may contain the Google custom search engine widget.
The archives and search data were filtered primarily for the time span between October 2022 and October 2023. As such, some websites may have previously hosted specific code, such as the Google search engine widget, but have since removed it. Furthermore, some websites may only load the JavaScript code when the user visits their webpages from a specific country or geolocation.
Secondly, Adalytics utilized the various crawler data sources, such as public archives including URLScan.io and HTTP Archive, to identify which websites appeared to invoke AdSense pubIds in the format of “partner-pub-[16 numerical digits]”, alongside the Google search engine code.
This was based on Google’s public online documentation for “Ads for search – Custom Search Ads parameter descriptions.”
Screenshot from Google AdSense documentation describing the pubId.
Google’s AdSense documentation shows an example, wherein the pubId for a given example is the string “partner-pub-“ followed by 16 numerical digits.
Screenshot of Google AdSense Help, illustrating an example Google Custom Search Ads configuration with a pubId.
Adalytics leveraged various crawler data sources, from publisher intelligence vendor DeepSee.io and from public crawler archives such as URLScan.io, and HTTP Archive, to identify websites which appeared to load the “cse.google.com/cse.js?cx=partner-pub-” JavaScript code on their webpages. These are sites which are likely to host both the custom search engine widget, as well as to receive ad revenue sharing from AdSense.
Screenshot from the public URLScan.io crawler archive, filtering for websites which were observed as loading JavaScript from “cse.google.com/cse.js?cx=partner-pub-”. These websites are likely to have the Google Custom Search Engine widget on their pages and may have AdSense enabled for ad revenue sharing.
Thirdly, according to Google’s public documentation, AdSense Custom Search Ads can be embedded by appending a specific piece of JavaScript code to a website – “google.com/adsense/search/ads.js”.
Screenshot of Google’s public “AdSense Custom Search Ads for Web” online documentation, showing JavaScript code that can be appended to a developer’s website.
As such, Adalytics utilized various public archives such URLScan.io and HTTP Archive to search for websites which invoked the JavaScript “google.com/adsense/search/ads.js”.
Screenshot from the public URLScan.io crawler archive, filtering for websites which were observed as loading JavaScript from “google.com/adsense/search/ads.js”. These websites are likely to have the Google Custom Search Engine widget on their pages and may have AdSense enabled for ad revenue sharing.
The results of these exploratory searches through public crawler archives were then manually confirmed for a subset of cases. Specifically, some of the individual websites which appeared to host the Google custom search engine widget and/or have AdSense for Search enabled were manually visited using a Chrome browser, and visually checked to confirm whether the search widget was present and whether search ads were served upon specific input queries.
Chrome developer tools “Network” tab was used to filter and confirm the presence of specific JavaScript code being loaded, and whether given AdSense “partner-pub-“ IDs were used by said websites.
Manual verification using Chrome browser and developer tools to confirm whether a website loads the Google custom search engine widget and has enabled an AdSense publisher ID for revenue sharing. This screenshot shows that the website Breitbart.com has embedded the “cse.google.com/cse.js” JavaScript code on its pages, and that it has enabled a “partner-pub-“ AdSense publisher ID for revenue sharing for Google search ads.
Results
This section of the report details empirical results and observations that were based on public, open-source information, including:
which websites appeared to host the Google custom search engine,
which of those websites appeared to have search ads enabled,
which sites appeared to have enabled and linked AdSense publisher IDs with their custom search engines
which brands and advertisers were observed having their search ads served on specific websites via the Google Search Partners (GSP) network
Results – 36,612 putative Google Search Partner websites
Leveraging publicly available data from sources such as HTTP Archive and URLScan.io, Adalytics found that 51,280 different websites (defined as distinct root domains) has embedded the cse.google.com/cse.js Google Custom Search engine JavaScript on their pages at some point.
Of those 51,280 websites, 46,773 appeared to also invoke the cse.google.com/adsense/search/async-ads.js JavaScript file which appears to be associated with the Custom Search Engine loading.
Not all websites which host the Google Custom Search Engine (cse.js and async-ads.js) have search ads served on them.
For example, the website of the Department of Justice hosts the cse.js and async-ads.js files on its website, but it does not appear to serve search ads via the Search Partners network. This is likely because the DOJ or federal government has exercised the option available to government and non-profit entities to disable search ads from being inserted on their pages.
Of the 46,773 root domains which appear to host the cse.js and async-ads.js files, 36,612 appear to have some evidence of search ads being served on them currently or at one point in time in the past.
These 36,612 websites with Google Custom Search engine and search ads enabled included websites such as dogpile.com (a search engine), wikihow.com (a self-help and tutorial website), and cio.com, a website for chief information officers.
Of the 36,612 websites which appeared to be embedding the Google Custom Search Engine and having search ads inserted on their pages, a subset of at least 6,414 appeared to have linked publisher AdSense IDs. This is based on the fact that these websites appeared to configure the cse.js JavaScript cx parameter to use an Programmable Search Engine ID in the format of “partner-pub-[16 numerical digits]”. For example, in the screenshot below, one can see the website Breitbart.com uses the Google custom search engine with the cx parameter set to partner-pub-9229289037503472.
Screenshot of the website Breitbart.com, with Chrome Developer Tools opened on the right, showing that HTTPS requests to cse.google.com for the Google custom search engine appear to utilize the AdSense ID partner-pub-922928037503472.
Approximately 21,454 websites identified in this study appeared to be parked domains.
For example, one of the domains identified was challengecandy.com, whose page says: “It’s parked free, courtesy of GoDaddy.com”. The page shows various “related searches”, such as “candies”, “candy”, or “candyboxes.com”.
Screenshot of challengecandy.com, a GoDaddy parked domain.
Clicking one of those “related searches” navigates the user to a page with search engine results for that specific query, such as “candies”.
Screenshot of challengecandy.com, a GoDaddy parked domain, with the search query “Candies” and AdSense for Search ads observed from brands such as sees.com or sugar-tooth.com.
Many of these parked domains appeared to reference GoDaddy or Team Internet.
There appeared to be at least 197 different Iranian websites with the .ir ccTLD hosting the custom search engine cse.js Javascript and serving search ads.
There appears to be over 2,200 domains which may engage in copyright violations or piracy, as evidence by the fact that the Google Transparency Report for copyright infringement related delisting’s had over 1000 recorded delisting’s for each of these 2,250 domains.
390 of the websites with custom search engine embedded and search ads enabled appeared to potentially be pornographic in nature, as evidence by references to various adult content keywords on them (“sex”, “porn”, “hentai”, etc), such as forumporn.org or pornocriceto.com.
Four of the websites which appeared to have the Custom Search Engine cse.js enabled on them and to host search ads (either currently or at one point in the past) appeared to be websites which are specifically listed on the US Treasury Office of Foreign Assets (OFAC) Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list.
Some of GSP websites identified in this study appeared to have auto-populated or pre-scripted search query inputs, a possible violation of Google’s policies. For example, the domains projectjam.com or metrohotel.com appear to auto-redirect the user’s browser to a custom search engine page with pre-populated search queries.
Lastly, some GSP websites also appeared to have pop-unders or automatically open other tabs on the consumer’s browser, with pre-scripted search query inputs. These include:
“dastanhisexy.cc” – an Iranian (Persian) language porn site
“solopornoitaliane.info” – an Italian language porn site, which appears to host videos of humans having intimate relation with horses, pigs, dogs, and other animals (e.g., “bestiality”). For example, video titles on this website include numerous references (in Italian) to bestiality, such as “dude sex with horses” or “women having sex with animals”
Results – Search ads serving on websites which are listed on the US Treasury Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List
The United States Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) maintains a Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Person (SDN) List which included various entities that have explicitly placed under sanctions.
Screenshot of the US Department of the Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control website, showing the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list.
The AO 'Institute Giprostroymost-Saint-Petersburg' in St. Petersburg, Russia, is listed on the OFAC SDN list. The company is under US Treasury OFAC sanctions under US Presidential Executive Order 13685 – “Blocking Property of Certain Persons and Prohibiting Certain Transactions With Respect to the Crimea Region of Ukraine”.
Screenshot of the OFAC SDN sanctions list, showing that the website gpsm.ru is on the sanctions list.
The AO 'Institute Giprostroymost-Saint-Petersburg' was placed on the SDN list in September, 2016, according to “Russia/Ukraine-related Designations and Identifications; Publication of Russia/Ukraine-related General License”.
Screenshot of the OFAC SDN list “Russia/Ukraine-related Designations and Identifications; Publication of Russia/Ukraine-related General License”.
As a second example, the Iranian Alloy Steel Company is under US Treasury OFAC sanctions under US Presidential Executive Order 13871 – “Imposing Sanctions With Respect to the Iron, Steel, Aluminum, and Copper Sectors of Iran”.
Screenshot of the OFAC SDN list website, showing “Iran-related Designations and Updates” from January 2020.
Screenshot of the Treasury OFAC SDN list, showing that the Iranian Alloy Steel Company is on the SDN list under US Presidential Executive Order 13871.
Both the website gpsm.ru and iasco.ir, which have been explicitly listed on the OFAC SDN list, appear to embed the cse.js and async-ads.js JavaScript files and host search ads on their websites. Many Fortune 500 brands, American politicians, and various US federal government entities had ads observed on gpsm.ru and iasco.ir.
For example, in the screenshots below, one can observe search ads for Apple served on gpsm.ru and iasco.ir.
Screenshot of Apple search ads served on gpsm.ru, a website explicitly mentioned on the OFAC SDN sanctions list.
Screenshot of Apple search ads served on iasco.ir, a website explicitly mentioned on the OFAC SDN sanctions list.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), General Services Administration (GSA), US Treasury, British Treasury (Royal Mint), US Army, US Airforce, US Coast Guard, US Space Force, US National Guard, and the US Secret Service also had search ads observed on these two SDN sanctioned websites.
Screenshot of FBI search ads observed on iasco.ir, a website explicitly mentioned on the US Treasury OFAC SDN sanctions list.
Screenshot of Secret Service search ads observed on iasco.ir, a website explicitly mentioned on the US Treasury OFAC SDN sanctions list.
Screenshot of US Army search ads observed on iasco.ir, a website explicitly mentioned on the US Treasury OFAC SDN sanctions list.
Screenshot of US Treasury and British Treasury (Royal Mint) search ads observed on iasco.ir, a website explicitly mentioned on the US Treasury OFAC SDN sanctions list.
Screenshot of FBI search ads observed on gpsm.ru, a website explicitly mentioned on the US Treasury OFAC SDN sanctions list.
Screenshot of US Secret Service and General Services Administration (GSA) search ads observed on gpsm.ru, a website explicitly mentioned on the US Treasury OFAC SDN sanctions list.
Screenshot of US Army search ads observed on gpsm.ru, a website explicitly mentioned on the US Treasury OFAC SDN sanctions list.
Screenshot of US Treasury and British Treasury (Royal Mint) search ads observed on gpsm.ru, a website explicitly mentioned on the US Treasury OFAC SDN sanctions list.
One of the brands whose search ads were observed on Iranian and OFAC Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) websites was the French bank BNP Paribas, which previously plead guilty to “conspiring to violate […] US economic sanctions”, and paid a fine of $8.9 billion dollars to the US Department of Justice.
Screenshot of a BNP Paribas search ad being served on being served on iasco.ir, the website of the Iranian Alloy Steel Company based in Tehran. The company is under US Treasury OFAC sanctions under US Presidential Executive Order 13871 – “Imposing Sanctions With Respect to the Iron, Steel, Aluminum, and Copper Sectors of Iran
Screenshot of BNP Paribas search ads observed on gpsm.ru, the website of the AO Institute Giprostroymost-Saint-Petersburg, in St. Petersburg, Russia. The company is under US Treasury OFAC sanctions under US Presidential Executive Order 13685 – “Blocking Property of Certain Persons and Prohibiting Certain Transactions With Respect to the Crimea Region of Ukraine”
Several political fundraising search ad campaigns, such as those of the Republican National Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) were observed on multiple SDN sanctioned websites.
Screenshot of Republican National Committee (RNC) and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) search ads on iasco.ir, the website of the Iranian Alloy Steel Company based in Tehran. The company is under US Treasury OFAC sanctions under US Presidential Executive Order 13871 – “Imposing Sanctions With Respect to the Iron, Steel, Aluminum, and Copper Sectors of Iran”
Screenshot of Republican National Committee (RNC) and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) search ads observed on gpsm.ru, the website of the AO Institute Giprostroymost-Saint-Petersburg, in St. Petersburg, Russia. The company is under US Treasury OFAC sanctions under US Presidential Executive Order 13685 – “Blocking Property of Certain Persons and Prohibiting Certain Transactions With Respect to the Crimea Region of Ukraine”
Several major media publishers and newspapers, such as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post, had search ads observed on multiple SDN sanctioned websites.
Screenshot of search ads for the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and the New York Times serving on gpsm.ru, the website of the AO Institute Giprostroymost-Saint-Petersburg, in St. Petersburg, Russia. The company is under US Treasury OFAC sanctions under US Presidential Executive Order 13685 – “Blocking Property of Certain Persons and Prohibiting Certain Transactions With Respect to the Crimea Region of Ukraine”
Screenshot of search ads for the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and the New York Times serving on iasco.ir, the website of the Iranian Alloy Steel Company based in Tehran. The company is under US Treasury OFAC sanctions under US Presidential Executive Order 13871 – “Imposing Sanctions With Respect to the Iron, Steel, Aluminum, and Copper Sectors of Iran”
Results – potential pornographic websites in the Google Search Partners network
WARNING: This section of the report – which is based on publicly available information - contains pornographic and adult content which may not be suitable for all audiences or for the workplace environment. Reader discretion is strongly advised.
An examination of public archive datasets suggests that there are or were (at one point in time) several hundred different pornographic and adult content websites with the custom search engine and search ads served on them. Manual verification shows that some of these pornographic websites are still live and serving search ads as of October, 2023.
For example, the website pornocriceto.com is an Italian website, whose title translates to “Hamster Porn”.
The website’s text says: “Usa il nostro motore di ricerca avanzata powered by Google™ per trovare subito il porno che cerchi”, which translates from Italian as: “Use our advanced search engine powered by Google™ to instantly find the porn you're looking for.”
Screenshot of on pornocriceto.com, an Italian pornography website with the Google custom search engine Javascript and search ads enabled.
The websites was confirmed to include the cse.google.com/cse.js and –cse.google.com/adsense/search/async-ads.js Javascript files, and to serve search ads.
Screenshot of Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) search ads on pornocriceto.com (Italian for “Hamster Porn”). The website says: “Usa il nostro motore di ricerca avanzata powered by Google™ per trovare subito il porno che cerchi”, which translates from Italian as: “Use our advanced search engine powered by Google™ to instantly find the porn you're looking for.”
Screenshot of Republican National Committee and Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee search ads observed on ads on pornocriceto.com (Italian for “Hamster Porn”).
Screenshot of US Army search ads observed on ads on pornocriceto.com (Italian for “Hamster Porn”). The website is shown here using the built-in page translation feature of Chrome browser.
Screenshot of Apple search ads observed on pornocriceto.com, an Italian pornographic website
As a second example, the website comixxx.pro, whose title “Porno malina” translate into “Rasperry Porn”, and features “Porn Comics”, “Porn Cartoons”, “Shemale” porn, and “Furry” porn, was confirmed to host to utilize the cse.google.com/cse.js and cse.google.com/adsense/search/async-ads.js JavaScript files, and to serve search ads.
Screenshot of US Army recruiting search ads being served on comixxx.pro, a pornographic website called “Porno malina”. The website includes Furry, Incest, Shemale, and BDSM porn comics.
Screenshot of Samsung search ads being served on comixxx.pro.
As a third example, the website pornobaza24.top, a Russian porn website, was confirmed to host to utilize the cse.google.com/cse.js and cse.google.com/adsense/search/async-ads.js JavaScript files, and to serve search ads.
Screenshot of Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) search ads observed on pornobaza24.top, a Russian pornography website.
Screenshot of Secret Service and Department of Homeland Security search ads observed on pornobaza24.top, a Russian pornography website.
Screenshot Apple search ads observed on pornobaza24.top, a Russian pornography website.
Screenshot of a search for Publicis media agency, served on a Russian pornographic website via the Search Partners network.
Screenshot of Mormon church ads observed on pornobaza24.top.
As a third example, the website truyenhentai18.net – a Vietnamese website whose footer says (in Vietnamese) – “Collection of free hentai stories , read the best Vietnamese sex comics for your phone” - was confirmed to host to utilize the cse.google.com/cse.js and cse.google.com/adsense/search/async-ads.js JavaScript files, and to serve search ads.
Translated screenshot of truyenhentai18.net, a Vietnamese pornographic comics (hentai) website with the custom search engine widget and search ads observed served on it.
Screenshot of FBI search ads observed on truyenhentai18.net, a Vietnamese pornographic comics (hentai) website.
Screenshot of Apple search ads observed on truyenhentai18.net, a Vietnamese pornographic comics (hentai) website.
As a fourth example, the website telefoonsex.xxx – a Dutch language website which describes itself as (in Dutch) “Phone sex […] site to hook up with the hottest phone sluts” - was confirmed to host to utilize the cse.google.com/cse.js and cse.google.com/adsense/search/async-ads.js JavaScript files, and to serve search ads.
Screenshot of telefoonsex.xxx, a Dutch pornographic website with the custom search engine widget and search ads observed served on it.
Screenshot of a search for Publicis media agency on a Dutch pornographic website.
Screenshot of FBI and The Economist search ads observed on telefoonsex.xxx, a Dutch pornographic website.
As a fifth example, the website anhhentai.com – a Vietnamese pornographic comics website - was confirmed to host to utilize the cse.google.com/cse.js and cse.google.com/adsense/search/async-ads.js JavaScript files, and to serve search ads.
Translated screenshot of anhhentai.com, a Vietnamese pornographic comics (hentai) website with the custom search engine widget and search ads observed served on it.
Screenshot of US army ads observed on anhhentai.com, a Vietnamese pornographic comics (hentai) website.
As a sixth example, the website wvw.chastnoeporno.top – a Russian pornography site - was confirmed to host to utilize the cse.google.com/cse.js and cse.google.com/adsense/search/async-ads.js JavaScript files, and to serve search ads.
Screenshot of www.chastnoeporno.top, a Russian pornographic website with the Google custom search engine widget and search ads observed served on it.
Screenshot of National Security Agency (NSA) and Department of Homeland Security (Customs and Border Protection) search ads observed on www.chastnoeporno.top, a Russian pornographic website.
Screenshot of Republican National Committee (RNC) and Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC) political fundraising search ads observed on www.chastnoeporno.top, a Russian pornographic website.
In another example, one can observe search ads on forumporn.org, a pornography forum. In the screenshot below, one can see search ads for Church of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) observed on forumporn.org.
Screenshot of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormon church) observed on forumporn.org
Results – search ads observed on putative Iranian websites
An examination of public archive datasets suggests that there are or were (at one point in time) several hundred different Iranian websites with the custom search engine and search ads served on them. Manual verification shows that some of these Iranian websites are still live and serving search ads as of October, 2023.
For example, the website arshadsara.ir’s Contact information says it’s based in the city of Mashhad, which is in northeast Iran.
Screenshot of the website arshadsara.ir contact information.
Screenshot of Google Maps, showing the contact address for the website arshadsara.ir
The arshadsara.ir website is written in Farsi, and the website hosts the “cse.google.com/cse.js” and “cse.google.com/adsense/search/async-ads.js” JavaScript code on their webpages. Manual confirmation shows that the website is still active and serving Google search ads, as of November 2023. The screenshot below shows search ads for RTX – an American defense contractor which makes missiles for the F-35 stealth fighter – serving on arshadsara.ir.
Screenshots of search ads for RTX – an American defense contractor - serving on arshadsara.ir, an Iranian website.
In the next screenshot, one can observe a search ad for Publicis media agency on the arshadsara.ir website.
Screenshot of Publicis media agency search ads observed on an Iranian website.
As a second example, the website krrw.ir says it is the website of the “regional water company of kerman”. Kerman is a city in southeastern Iran. The website krrw.ir was observed hosting the “cse.google.com/cse.js” and “cse.google.com/adsense/search/async-ads.js”. The website was confirmed – via manual inspection – to serve Google search ads.
Screenshot of the Iranian website krrw.ir
Screenshot of the Iranian website krrw.ir, showing search ads for the US National Security Agency (NSA)
Screenshot of Apple ads on krrw.ir, the website of an Iranian water company
Screenshot of Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) ads on krrw.ir, the website of an Iranian water company
Screenshot of a search ad for Publicis media agency on an Iranian website.
As a third example, the website kookherdbirds.ir is a bird watching website which focuses on birds in Kookherd section and Bestak city of Hormozgan province, Iran.
Screenshot of kokherdbirds.ir, an Iranian bird watching website
The website kookherdbirds.ir was confirmed to host the cse.js and async-ads.js JavaScript files, and to serve Google search ads.
Screenshot of search ads from brands such as Amazon observed on the website kookherdbirds.ir
Results – potential copyright infringing websites in the Google Search Partners network
Source: Google AdSense Help - Ads for search - Custom Search Ads policies
Google’s “Ads for search Custom Search Ads policies” states that: “As described in the AdSense Program policies, copyrighted content or content that violates our site content guidelines should not be the focus of your searchable content.”
“Google regularly receives requests to delist content from Search results that may infringe on copyright.” The Google Transparency Report “provides data on such requests to delist links from Search.”
According to Google’s online documentation,
“It is our policy to respond to clear and specific notices of alleged copyright infringement. The form of notice we specify in our web form is consistent with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and provides a simple and efficient mechanism for copyright owners from countries/regions around the world. To initiate the process to delist content from Search results, a copyright owner who believes a URL points to infringing content sends us a takedown notice for that allegedly infringing material. When we receive a valid takedown notice, our teams carefully review it for completeness and check for other problems. If the notice is complete and we find no other issues, we delist the URL from Search results.”
The significance of the above documentation is that it shows Google has “teams carefully review” copyright infringement allegations and publicizes which websites or domains have had a page that was removed from Google Search results because Google’s teams considered the given page to be infringing on a rightful owner’s copyright owner rights.
For example, one can observe that the Google Transparency Report has records of Google receiving over 15,000 individual DMCA takedown requests for delisting from search for the website “freewebnovel.com”. These 15,000 requests covered 63,002 different URLs on freewebnovel.com. In the screenshot below, one can note that of the 63,002 URLs requested to be removed on copyright violations grounds, 55,973 (88%) were reviewed by Google’s teams and then removed.
Screenshot of Google Transparency Report for “freewebnovel.com”, showing that Google’s team delisted 55,973 URLs from that website pursuant to copyright violation requests. A separate part of Google’s documentation states that “Google ads may not be displayed on websites with content protected by copyright law Google ads may not be displayed on websites with content protected by copyright law unless they have the necessary legal rights to display or direct traffic to that content.”
However, during this research study, it was observed that many US federal government, American politicians, and Fortune 500 brands’ search ads were served on websites which had tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of DMCA copyright violation de-listings recorded in Google Transparency Report.
For example, the website booker6.com has had 2,161 de-listings reported in Google Transparency Report. Search ads for the US Treasury and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) were observed served on booker.com via the Google Search Partners (GSP) network.
Screenshot of US Treasury ads being served on booker6.com, a website with 2,161 de-listings in Google Transparency Report
Screenshot of US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) ads being served on booker6.com, a website with 2,161 de-listings in Google Transparency Report
As a second example, the website tvshows4mobile.com has had 144,147 de-listings in Google Transparency Report. Thousands of these DMCA copyright de-listings were due to various American media publishers filing requests with Google.
Screenshot of Google Transparency Report for the website tvshows4mobile.com, showing that tens of thousands of the DMCA take down requests were due to companies like Disney, Warner Bros, Sony, Apple, and Lionsgate filing DMCA notices with Google Search.
According to the Google Transparency Report, several major media publishers were listed as “copyright owners” who filed DMCA requests with Google to delist specific search results for copyright violations. These included:
Disney – filed for 76,573 URLs to be de-listed on tvshows4mobile.com
Warner Bros – filed for 58,799 URLs to be de-listed on tvshows4mobile.com
Sony Pictures – filed for 10,342 URLs to be de-listed on tvshows4mobile.com
Apple – filed for 4,554 URLs to be de-listed on tvshows4mobile.com
Amazon – filed for 1,961 URLs to be de-listed on tvshows4mobile.com
Lionsgate – filed for 1,874 URLs to be de-listed on tvshows4mobile.com
Sky Group – filed for 1,720 URLs to be de-listed on tvshows4mobile.com
However, search ads for many of these major media publishers and copyright owners were observed serving on tvshows4mobile.org.
For example, Disney, Warner Bros, Sony Pictures, Apple, Lionsgate, and Sky Group all had search ads observed on tvshows4mobile.com.
Screenshot of Disney+ search ads observed on tvshows4mobile.com, a website with over 144,147 de-listings in Google Transparency Report. Thousands of these DMCA copyright de-listings were due to various American media publishers filing requests with Google. Disney filed for 76,573 URLs to be de-listed on tvshows4mobile.com
Screenshot of Warner Bros search ads observed on tvshows4mobile.com, a website with over 144,147 de-listings in Google Transparency Report. Thousands of these DMCA copyright de-listings were due to various American media publishers filing requests with Google. Warner Bros filed for 58,799 URLs to be de-listed on tvshows4mobile.com
Screenshot of Apple TV+ search ads observed on tvshows4mobile.com, a website with over 144,147 de-listings in Google Transparency Report. Thousands of these DMCA copyright de-listings were due to various American media publishers filing requests with Google. Apple filed for 4,554 URLs to be de-listed on tvshows4mobile.com
Screenshot of Sky search ads observed on tvshows4mobile.com, a website with over 144,147 de-listings in Google Transparency Report. Thousands of these DMCA copyright de-listings were due to various American media publishers filing requests with Google. Sky filed for 1,720 URLs to be de-listed on tvshows4mobile.com
Screenshot of a Publicis Sapient search ad observed on tvshows4mobile.org
As a third example, the website porncoven.org has had 46,418 de-listings in Google Transparency Report. Thousands of these DMCA copyright de-listings were due to various pornography copyright owners filing DMCA take down requests for violation of their pornographic copyrights.
Screenshot of Google Transparency Report for porncoven.org, showing that the website had 46,418 URLs removed from Google Search pursuant to DMCA take down requests by copyright owners.
Screenshot of Google Transparency Report for porncoven.org, showing that the website had thousands of URL delisting requests by Copyright Owners such as TopWebModels, sexmex, and Bangbros.
Ads for numerous Fortune 500 brands, eleven different US government entities, multiple American politicians, and other advertisers were observed on porncoven.org.
Screenshots of Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) ads observed on porncoven.org, a website with over 46,418 URLs removed from Google Search pursuant to DMCA take down requests by copyright owners.
Screenshot of ads for the National Security Agency (intelligencecareers.gov) observed on porncoven.org, a website with over 46,418 URLs removed from Google Search pursuant to DMCA take down requests by copyright owners.
Results – potential child-directed websites
Some of the websites which appear to be in the Search Partners network and serve search ads appear to be directed at or intended for child audiences. For example, search ads were observed on the website kidzsearch.com. Kidzsearch.com describes itself as “the best search tool for kids” and “a special search environment made just for kids”.
Screenshot of kidzsearch.com website, showing that it is “made just for kids”.
Various search ads were observed on kidzsearch.com. For example, in the screenshot below, one can observe search ads for the US Army appearing on kidzsearch.com.
Screenshot of goarmy.com search ads observed on kidzsearch.com
As another example, the website https://www.kiddle.co/, which describes itself as a “safe visual search engine for kids”, was observed to have search ads. In the screenshow below, one can observe alcohol search (shopping carousel ads).
Screenshot of search (shopping carousel) ads on kiddle.co, a “for kids” website, served via the Search Partner network.
Results - Domains which appear to auto re-direct to pages with pre-populated search query terms
Analysis of public crawler archives revealed a cluster of approximately fifteen different domains which all appear to currently (or in the past) to auto-redirect the user’s browser to a search engine page with pre-populated or pre-inputted search query terms.
For example, if a consumer tries to open the website “projectjam.com”, their browser will be auto-re-directed to the page: “https://cse.google.com/cse?cx=partner-pub-5903031199985375:4479431539&ie=UTF-8&q=loan&sa=Search&ref=que.com”. The search query “loan” has already been pre-populated in the search box without any user input or involvement. Various “loan” related search ads are visible on the consumer’s screen, including search ads from brands such as Credit Karma, Experian, and Lending Tree.
Screenshot of the webpage that is opened after a consumer tries to open the page “projectjam.com”. The consumer’s browser is automatically re-directed to another page, with the search term “loan” pre-populated and search ads present on the screen.
Similarly, if a consumer tries to open the page hometrip.com, the consumer’s browser is automatically re-directed to the URL: “https://cse.google.com/cse?cx=partner-pub-5903031199985375:4479431539&ie=UTF-8&q=realestate&sa=Search&ref=que.com”. The search query “realestate” is automatically filled out in the search inbox, and search ads for realtor.com can be seen on the top of the page.
Screenshot of the webpage that is opened after a consumer tries to open the page “hometrip.com”. The consumer’s browser is automatically re-directed to another page, with the search term “realestate” pre-populated and search ads present on the screen.
As a third example, if a consumer tries to open the page knittygritty.com, the consumer’s browser is automatically re-directed to the URL: “https://cse.google.com/cse?cx=partner-pub-5903031199985375:4479431539&ie=UTF-8&q=stock&sa=Search&ref=que.com”. The search query “stock” is automatically filled out in the search inbox, and search ads for We Bull and other brands can be seen on the top of the page.
Screenshot of the webpage that is opened after a consumer tries to open the page “knittygritty.com”. The consumer’s browser is automatically re-directed to another page, with the search term “stock” pre-populated and search ads present on the screen.
As a fourth example, if a consumer tries to open the page knittygritty.com, the consumer’s browser is automatically re-directed to the URL: “https://cse.google.com/cse?cx=partner-pub-5903031199985375:4479431539&ie=UTF-8&q=stock&sa=Search&ref=que.com”. The search query “stock” is automatically filled out in the search inbox, and search ads for Robinhood investment brokerage, Coinbase crytpo-exchange, and other brands can be seen on the top of the page.
Screenshot of the webpage that is opened after a consumer tries to open the page “kryptik.com”. The consumer’s browser is automatically re-directed to another page, with the search term “bitcoin” pre-populated and search ads present on the screen.
Google’s public “Ads for search Custom Search Ads policies” state that: “Query variable passed to Google must match user’s search intent”, “CSA may only be used on search results pages that were returned from clear user search intent coming from one of two sources: A search query entered and submitted directly by a user into a search box without editing, modification or filtering. The search box may not be pre-populated with search terms, and publishers may not create links containing pre-populated search terms.”
Screenshot of Google AdSense public online documentation
Results - Iranian pornographic piracy and Italian animal porn sites creating automated pop-outs with pre-populated search queries with search ads
Google’s public “Ads for search Custom Search Ads policies” state that: “Query variable passed to Google must match user’s search intent”, “CSA may only be used on search results pages that were returned from clear user search intent coming from one of two sources: A search query entered and submitted directly by a user into a search box without editing, modification or filtering. The search box may not be pre-populated with search terms, and publishers may not create links containing pre-populated search terms.”
The public Google AdSense Program policies state that “All publishers are required to adhere to the Google Publisher Policies”. It further states: “AdSense code may not be placed in inappropriate places such as pop-ups, emails or software.” “Google ads, search boxes or search results may not be: […] Displayed in pop-ups or pop-unders, including where a page containing Google ads, search boxes, or search results is loaded in a pop-up or pop-under.” The policies further state that: “Sites showing Google ads should be easy for users to navigate. Sites may not change user preferences, redirect users to unwanted websites, initiate downloads, include malware or contain pop-ups or pop-unders that interfere with site navigation.”
The public Google Publisher Policies states that: “We do not allow content that: infringes copyright. It is our policy to respond to notices of alleged infringement that comply with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).”
Furthermore, the policies state: “We do not allow content that: includes graphic sexual text, image, audio, video, or games. Examples: Sex acts such as genital, anal, and/or oral sex; masturbation; cartoon porn or hentai; graphic nudity.”
However, during the course of this research, it was observed that there were certain pornographic websites which appeared to be automatically creating “pop-under” tabs on the consumer’s browser, without consumer intervention. When a consumer is browsing one of these adult content websites, a new tab is automatically opened on their browser without user intervention.
The pop-under tab automatically opens the URL “search.howtolosebellyfat.shop/new123.php”, which then re-directs the user to a specific “t.co” Twitter link shortener (similar to a bit.ly link shortener).
Screenshot of solopornoitaliane.info, an Italian animal porn website, with chrome developer tools open on the right. The chrome developer tools show a specific piece of JavaScript code which automatically opens a Twitter-shortened link – without human intervention.
The specific “t.co” link then re-directs the browser to “search.howtolosebellyfat.shop/ap3.php”.
Next, the “ap3.php” file re-directs the browser tab to a search engine results page, such as “search.howtolosebellyfat.shop/search/?q=bisness+games”. The “q” query string parameter at the end is automatically generated during the re-direct sequence.
The “search.howtolosebellyfat.shop/search/” search page looks similar in structure to a regular search engine results page, such as bing.com or duckduckgo.com, with a search input box where a consumer can type in search text queries, and a section below for search ads and organic search results to appear.
Of particular interest is the fact that – when the user is automatically re-directed to “search.howtolosebellyfat.shop/search/” – the search box on the page is not empty. Rather, the search text bot already has specific search queries automatically pre-populated or inputted, totally sans any user input. These search queries are “appended” or automatically inserted by the re-direct from the “ap3.php” file.
The “search.howtolosebellyfat.shop” page is confirmed to use the Google Custom Search Engine cse.js and async-ads.js JavaScript files on its pages. The page appears to use a “partner-pub-“ style cx custom search engine ID in its API requests to Google’s server endpoints. The specific cx ID is: “partner-pub-9647276166466478:9754779281”
The “search.howtolosebellyfat.shop” page retrieves Google search results and search ads, which are then rendered on the consumer’s browser without any direct consumer intervention.
The flow-chart below illustrates the sequence of automated pop-unders and re-directs which direct the user to the “search.howtolosebellyfat.shop” page.
The two websites that were observed automatically opening pop-out tabs that re-direct the user to the “search.howtolosebellyfat.shop/search” page with auto-inputted, pre-scripted search terms and search results, are:
“dastanhisexy.cc” – an Iranian (Persian) language porn site
“solopornoitaliane.info” – an Italian language porn site, which appears to host videos of humans having intimate relation with horses, pigs, dogs, and other animals (e.g., “bestiality”). For example, video titles on this website include numerous references (in Italian) to bestiality, such as “dude sex with horses” or “women having sex with animals”
Translated (from Persian to English) screenshot of dastanhisexy.cc, an Iranian-language porn site which has code that automatically opens new tabs on a consumer’s browser
Translated (from Italian to English) screenshot of solopornoitaliane.info, an Italian-language porn site which has code that automatically opens new tabs on a consumer’s browser. The video titles include numerous references to bestiality, such as “dude sex with horses” or “women having sex with animals”
In each case, when a consumer opens either dastanhisexy.cc or solopornoitaliane.info, the consumer’s browser will automatically be directed to open additional tabs, which in turn navigate to t.co and then to search.howtolosebellyfat.shop/search, where search ads will be served.
To illustrate the phenomenon of these pop-out tabs, Adalytics made two video screen recordings show what happens when a consumer visits either dastanhisexy.cc or solopornoitaliane.info.
Results – Screen recordings illustrating pop-outs opened on Iranian and animal porn websites which re-direct to a Google Search Partner website with pre-scripted search queries
The video recording showing the Italian animal porn website - solopornoitaliane.info – can be watched at the following Loom video URL. Please be advised this link contains explicit, graphic adult content and animal cruelty which may not be suitable for the work environment. Viewer discretion is strongly advised. Video link: https://www.loom.com/share/857baaa602d44f7c92be61904be0b7dc
The video recording showing the Iranian porn website - dastanhisexy.cc – can be watched at the following Loom video URL. Please be advised this link contains explicit, graphic adult content which may not be suitable for the work environment. Viewer discretion is strongly advised. Video link: https://www.loom.com/share/7fc40e5a42c44cc088d6350f87429224
Results – Hundreds of different examples of auto-inputted, pre-scripted search queries found on a Google Search Partner site that was receiving audience traffic from porn pop-unders
The numbered list below shows over one hundred different examples of pre-scripted, automated search terms which were empirically observed (without user input) on pop-unders on “search.howtolosebellyfat.shop/search”.
Each of these search queries was filled out in the search box without user intervention. In each case, the pop-under was opened automatically when a consumer was browsing on “dastanhisexy.cc” or “solopornoitaliane.info”.
The numbered list shows the specific query that was observed in the “search.howtolosebellyfat.shop” search text box, and the indented line below each shows the specific Google search ads that were observed in response to that given search query.
"newsletter autoresponder"
letterhead.ai, tryletterhead.com, blog.tryletterhead.com, allaboutemailmarketing.com, discoverresultsfast.com, uk.lookupsmart.com
"avl system"
trackersystems.net, etatransit.com, onestepgps.com, cat.com
"s c workers comp"
bks-partners.com, getspeedyresults.com, simplybusiness.com, simpli.com
"christian funeral services"
dalewoodwardfuneralhomes.com, clearviewcaskets.com, cremationservicesdaytonabeach.com, memorialplanning.com
"carpet cleaning"
uk.lookupsmart.com, uk.discoverresultsfast.com, alibaba.com
"roaches guide service"
servicemaster.co.za, cptspestcontrol.co.za
"free printable birthday banner"
creativefabrica.com, findresultsquickly.com, jacquielawson.com, dreamstime.com
"maui hawaii airports"
expedia.com, expedia.ca
"chrysler jeep dodge dealerships"
dodgeofwinterhaven.net
"austin videographer"
zoss.media, spexster.com, blackskycreative.net, vantagepointphoto.com
"what do you have to do to start a business"
ekuonline.eku.edu, concretecraftfranchising.com, nfib.com, infoabouttomorrow.com
"investor meetings"
welcome.plugandplaytechcenter.com, plugandplaytechcenter.com, speedyanswersnow.com, simpli.com, readytodistribute.com
"video monitoring signs"
simpli.com, ibase.com.tw, monitorsanywhere.com, lookupsmart.com
"hipaa-compliant cloud"
cloudsuite.caveonix.com, caveonix.com, hashicorp.com, developer.hashicorp.com, app.terraform.io, Hava.io, app.hava.io, hava.io, explore.changehealthcare.com
"compare two sql queries"
solarwinds.com, singlestore.com, singlestorenowtherealtimeaicon.splashthat.com, uk.findresultsnow.com, uk.lookupsmart.com
"pioneer metal finishing"
sunrayprototype.com, lzkailai.com, iwgplating.com, thermofisher.com
"ca secretary of state business"
legalzoom.com
"jacksonville laser hair removal"
milanlaserjacksonville.com, winkonlaser.com, onecellmediclinic.com, op3achp85w0.typeform.com, dermajem.com
"burleson pools"
lyonstubrepair.com, ElitePoolsAL.com
"att 401k plan"
lookupsmart.com, de.discoverresultsfast.com, mercer.com
"how to recover files from word"
holidaygiftssearch.com, lookupsmart.com, siftforanswers.com, readytodistribute.com
"mobile 1 synthetic oil change interval"
premierautocenter.rsp2.fzautomotive.com, walmart.com, watsonchevrolet.com, cadillacoftucson.com
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sohodentalgroup.com, onedestinationclinic.lpages.co, odc.live, book.zocdoc.com, zocdoc.com, 1dental.com, join.1dental.com
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airforce.com, military.ashland.edu, lookupsmart.com, discoverresultsfast.com
"client server backup software"
microfocus.com, opentextworld.com, veritas.com, lookupsmart.com, speedysearchresults.com
"email documents"
egnyte.com, pages.egnyte.com, workspace.google.com, simpli.com, searchinfotoday.com
"athens plumbing"
flowplumbing.com, indeed.com, jointhomeservices.com, txmechanicalandplumbing.com
"seam welding process"
joiningtech.com, boschrexroth.com, store.boschrexroth.com, lookupsmart.com, vitronic.com
"computer services los angeles"
readytodistribute.com, candofinance.com, discoverresultsfast.com, simpli.com
"best rewards credit card canada"
scotiabank.com, walletgenius.com
"untangle firewall"
quicklyseek.com, uk.lookupsmart.com, f5.com, simpli.com
"examples of personal statements for grad school"
grammarly.com, paperpal.com, home.muse.io, app.muse.io, lookupsmart.com
"buy houses in texas"
historymaker.com, mnaoffplan.com, kbhome.com, ltxhomebuilders.com
"corporate logo hats"
business.landsend.com, mondaymerch.com, forthrighthz.com, topresultssearch.com
"scottsdale az home rentals"
halpernresidential.com, avantstay.com, livnorthgate.com, livavenida.com
"lasik how much"
uk.lookupsmart.com, getspeedyresults.com, siftforanswers.com, candofinance.com
"deaconess urgent care evansville in"
nortonhealthcare.com, mychart.nortonhealthcare.org, pedsassociates.com, trinityhealthmichigan.org, pearl.com
"blinds online"
blinds.com, blindster.com, customshadeandshutter.com, uk.lookupsmart.com
"universities of washington"
rvu.edu, ekuonline.eku.edu, btc.edu, uk.lookupsmart.com
"enchanted closet"
ralphlauren.com, gosoaky.com, manolitas.com, shrimpandgritskids.com
"special educational needs teacher"
lookupsmart.com, naset.org, specialneedstutors.com
"self storage manhattan ks"
findbestresults.co, lookupsmart.com, webuystorage2.com, nwaeasystorage.com
"cost for security system"
alarm.slomins.com, slomins.com, go.lvt.com, lvt.com, securitycaging.com, lookupsmart.com
"new jersey medical malpractice lawyer"
kdlm.com
"create app from website"
1.appexchange.com, partnersignup.salesforce.com, findresultsfast.com, lookupsmart.com, atlassian.com
"houston truck accident lawyer"
callmeonmycell.com, legalshield.com, attorneystrialgroup.com, riveralawgroup.rtrk.com
"depression post"
lms.mghcme.org, mind.betterme.world, nicabm.com, catalog.pesi.com, pesi.com
"dr david clark dds"
lookupsmart.com, bddstudiodentistico.it, findyouranswers.co, search.visymo.com
"home automation alarm system"
go.lvt.com, lvt.com, kidde-esfire.com, discoverresultsfast.com, bestbuy.com
"criminal attorney west palm beach"
legalshield.com, stegerlaw.com, matthewjubelaw.com, us.blendedsearch.com
"industrial chemical manufacturers"
lookupsmart.com, emeryoleo.com, parchem.com, discoverresultsfast.com
"construction offices"
sleightfarm.com, calendly.com, vnopenn2.com, northjerseyexcavation.com, uk.discoverresultsfast.com
"philadelphia injury lawyer"
legalshield.com, lookupsmart.com, gitlegalgroup.com, winterduffylaw.com
"auto insurance help"
zapmeta.it, izito.it, search.visymo.com, discoverresultsfast.com
"free professional letter templates"
grammarly.com, creativefabrica.com, rocketlawyer.com, myperfectcoverletter.com
"audi s3 headlight"
parts.audiusa.com, superbrightleds.com, ebay.com, pages.ebay.com, tracking.voltagesearch.com
"travelers richardson tx"
imglobal.com, expedia.com, kayak.com, nomadinsuranceworld.com
"ford dealers in allentown pa"
ford.com, accessories.ford.com, d.agkn.com, fourstarsford.com, truecar.com
"call center management software"
nation.com, balto.ai, discoverresultsfast.com, hubplanner.com
"buy a house in dc"
gfohome.com, pennhomes.com, pashadc.com, motifdc.com
"how to whiten your teeth fast at home"
pinterest.com, search.vyager.com, activebeat.com, gloscience.com
"mri of the brain with ms"
actharhcp.com, Actharhcp.com, perspectivetherapeutics.com, livediseasefree.com, briumvi.com
"call center phone software"
uk.lookupsmart.com, my.calltrackingmetrics.com, calltrackingmetrics.com, de.discoverresultsfast.com, nation.com
"starting a small business at home"
speedyresultsnow.com, atlassian.com, airbnb.com, cloud.google.com
"septic system cleaning"
lilstinky.com, business.google.com
"best place to get dental implants"
tribecaadvanceddentistry.com, aslitarcandental.com, sohodentalgroup.com, g4bygolpa.com
"spoon civic type r"
tri.hondadealers.com
"build-it-yourself website"
explorethebesttoday.com, semrush.com, walletgenius.com, bluehost.com
"denver domestic violence attorney"
legalshield.com
"D C pest control"
uk.lookupsmart.com
"pancreas surgeons"
hackensackmeridianhealth.org, nyulangone.org, clinicaltrials.med.nyu.edu, NYTopDocs.com, nytopdocs.com, montefiore.org
"conduct a survey"
getspeedyresults.com, landsolutionsgroup.wixsite.com, re-view.ai, app.re-view.ai, uk.lookupsmart.com
"cheap lawyers in chicago"
legalshield.com, forthepeople.com, evaluation.forthepeople.com, mvpinjurylaw.com, mannclosing.com
"smiley dental"
onedestinationclinic.lpages.co, odc.live, sohodentalgroup.com, parkslopedentalarts.com, book.zocdoc.com, zocdoc.com
"best travel website design"
teacode.io, meetings.hubspot.com, zapmeta.it, izito.it, it.top10quest.com
"website design augusta ga"
discovertoday.co, simpli.com, readytodistribute.com, userback.io
"enterprise wireless solutions"
lookupsmart.com
"innovation design and creativity in business"
weareneon.io, meetings.hubspot.com, elopage.com, momentum.ch, zhaw.ch, momentumdesignlab.com
"easy loans no credit"
topbrandsforyou.com, simpli.com, it.top10quest.com, lookupsmart.com
"best solid state hard drive laptop"
dell.com
"gravity treadmill"
ypoosport.com, simpli.com, vafitness.com, holidaygiftssearch.com
"boston volkswagen dealer"
quirkvw.com, union-automobile.com, tulleybmwnashua.com, ajcconversions.co.uk
"forex micro account"
findresultsnow.com, lookupsmart.com, fxminds.nl, ikvind.net
"dropbox cloud backup"
dropbox.com, nation.com, walletgenius.com, carbonite.com
"heartland label printers"
blueprintservice.com, retail-tech.com, saunderscorp.com, lynxlabeling.com
"health insurance companies pa"
holidaygiftssearch.com, thedunngroup.com, cignaglobal.com, zapmeta.it
"rent a car in pisa"
hertz.com, monitor.ppcprotect.com, kayak.com, expedia.com
"hypertensive cardiac disease"
katerzia.com, bh.contextweb.com, orlandohealth.com, edarbi.com
"stock market research"
lodgiq.com, signup.finqai.com, finqai.com, bigstocks.com, lookupsmart.com
"black men hair transplant"
lookupsmart.com, bosley.com, spiegel-news.com, tjhairclinic.com
"hepatitis drugs"
lookupsmart.com, se.discoverresultsfast.com, osmosis.org
"cable tv offers in my area"
go.kvh.com, zapmeta.it, findresultsnow.co, search.visymo.com
"mesothelioma law"
lookupsmart.com, activebeat.com, forthepeople.com, discoverresultsfast.com
"cytokine inhibitors"
stemcell.com, cdn.stemcell.com, invivogen.com, sigmaaldrich.com, antibody-creativebiolabs.com
"plataforma de trading"
uk.lookupsmart.com, tradestation.com, findresultsnow.com, lp.stockstotrade.com
"how do i become a social worker"
jewishboard.org, gssw.touro.edu, tcop.touro.edu, online.iu.edu, iu.edu, champlain.edu
"upload vidio"
vimeo.com, lookupsmart.com, discovertoday.co, pulse.clickguard.com
"verizon fax to email"
info.concord.net, apps.apple.com, ifaxapp.com, get.biscom.com, biscom.com
"dentist las vegas nv"
onedestinationclinic.lpages.co, odc.live, g4bygolpa.com, intelident.com, delandorthodontics.com
"rent tuscany villa"
vrbo.com, airbnb.com, emmavillas.com, amaselections.com, trustpilot.com
"advertising agency insurance"
simplybusiness.com, quote.simplybusiness.com, decorgeous.com, track.nextinsurance.com, joinroot.com
"fedex aircraft maintenance"
skyservice.com
"technical training certification"
us.blendedsearch.com, jbtrainingsolutions.com, energysmartinstitute.com, wgu.edu
"motorcycle injury lawyer los angeles"
findresultsnow.com, haddadlawoffices.com, uk.lookupsmart.com, izito.it
"earthlink business internet"
t-mobile.com, fi.google.com
"high school in australia"
billanook.vic.edu.au, fahan.tas.edu.au, cggs.act.edu.au, simpli.com
"waste news"
blog.smartsense.co, info.smartsense.co, smartsense.co, propelleraero.com
"q u i e t"
amazon.de
"sign up bonus credit card"
americanexpress.com, holidaygiftssearch.com
"bank specials for new accounts"
cit.com, winden.co, found.com, walletgenius.com
"knox college application"
trkn.us, sbc.edu, husson.edu, wgu.edu, texas.wgu.edu, umassd.edu
"online nursing bridge programs"
messiah.edu, nation.com, springfield.edu, atsu.edu
"top vasectomy reversal doctors"
posterityhealth.com, vasectomy-reversal-questions.com, illumefertility.com, lookupsmart.com
"escalator company"
mydeal.io, searchresultsdelivery.com, uk.lookupsmart.com, reportlinker.com
"how to canvass door to door"
trailblazingcanvassers.com
"hemophilia medications"
roctavian.com, esperoct.com, benefix.com, advatepro.com
"home painting"
frogtape.com, localpainterquotes.com, lookupsmart.com, woolio.net
"auto accident attorney Torrance"
rahnamalaw.com, rocknplaylawyer.com, newmexicobirthinjurylawyer.com, serpefirm.com, qualify.legalasap.com, ourtop5products.com
"number 20 in spanish"
amazon.com, preply.com, teacherspayteachers.com
"free personal finance software"
discoverresultsfast.com
"anchorage satellite phone"
satellitephonestore.com, predictwind.com, satellite.predictwind.com, dish.com, findresultsnow.co
"pay as you go wireless plans"
lebara.nl, odido.nl, telna.com, simpel.nl, bestel.simpel.nl
"gentle dental hillsboro"
book.zocdoc.com, zocdoc.com, onedestinationclinic.lpages.co, odc.live, sohodentalgroup.com, huyssoondental.com
"girl lion"
amazon.com, panthera.org
"best looking cell phones"
store.google.com, bestbuy.com, lookupsmart.com, iresults.com
"bid management tool"
airtable.com, auctionflex.com, clickadilla.com, publishers.clickadilla.com, smartsheet.com
"free credit report every year"
lookupsmart.com, discoverresultsfast.com, tracking.omniwatch.com, nav.com
"cloud linux"
lookupsmart.com, windriver.com, uk.searchlobby.com, cloud.ionos.com, ionos.com
"hundai deals"
nissanusa.com, genesis.com, mintchip.mintmeasure.com, centralflorida.hondadealers.com
"alma illery medical center"
oakstreethealth.com, nashcares.com
"electrical contractor st louis"
aaastl.com, indeed.com, subscriptions.indeed.com, my.indeed.com, registerconstruction.net, jointhomeservices.com
"lower back pain and hip"
spinecenterbr.com, lookupsmart.com, discoverresultsfast.com
"wheelchair van sales"
mobilityworks.com, braunability.com
"spanish courses costa rica"
try.lingopie.com, lingopie.com, ef.edu, ilisa.com, preply.com
"gold buyers in miami"
lookupsmart.com, midasgoldgroup.com, moneymetals.com
"step and repeats"
simpli.com, bannerbuzz.com, joydisplays.com, bannersonthecheap.com
"voice over ip phone service small business"
topbrandsforyou.com, salt.ch, itk-communications.de, uk.lookupsmart.com
"citizenship lawyer"
legalshield.com, fairus.org, xulawgroup.com, uk.discoverresultsfast.com
"podiatry biomechanics"
uk.lookupsmart.com, se.discoverresultsfast.com
"michigan state university majors"
uk.lookupsmart.com, bigfuture.collegeboard.org
"vero fl"
vrbo.com
"email archiving solution"
overloop.com, app.overloop.com, lookupsmart.com, anubisnetworks.com, findyouranswers.co
"grenoble hotels"
expedia.com
"phone and internet service for business"
t-mobile.com
"tours around new zealand"
expatexplore.com, calendly.com, travelessence.nl, camperworldwide.com, toursdirect.co.nz
"boston private bank trust company"
uk.lookupsmart.com
"hemophilia medications - Private Search 2_files"
roctavian.com, esperoct.com, uk.lookupsmart.com, benefix.com
"copy machine sales"
printcontrol.nl, uk.lookupsmart.com, uk.discoverresultsfast.com, en.huayang-ppm.com
"free online video conferencing"
nation.com
"mini canvas bag"
vograce.com, lexsellent.be, bagsguru.in, multigift.com
"hybrid cloud"
nation.com, elastic.co, bestdealprovider.com, gartner.com
"repair your own teeth"
onedestinationclinic.lpages.co, odc.live, pixamz.com
"closing costs dc"
lookupsmart.com
"movers humble tx"
alpinemovingco.com, houstonkatymovingservices.com, getbellhops.com, hireahelper.com
"is wgu accredited"
ekuonline.eku.edu, online.utah.edu, wgu.edu, wwwforms.wgu.edu
"purchas order"
business.com
"ants inside house"
pestcontrol-nearyou.com
"atlanta car accident attorney"
atlwreckhelp.com, legalshield.com, attorneykennugent.com, georgiainjurylawyer.com
"icd-10 readiness assessment"
simpleltc.com, lookupsmart.com
"oracle vm for sparc"
uk.lookupsmart.com
"help desk technician training"
wgu.edu, inquiry.wgu.edu, lookupsmart.com, thinkhdi.com, reg.thinkhdi.com, indeed.com
"the ecosystem of the rainforest"
ramboll.com, amazon.com, study.com, generationgenius.com
"home security cameras wireless"
alarm.slomins.com, slomins.com, amazon.com, bestbuy.com
"state farm boat insurance"
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Many different US government and Fortune 500 brands appeared to have their search ads placed on “search.howtolosebellyfat.shop/search”, as a result of a pre-scripted pop-under opening from “dastanhisexy.cc” or “solopornoitaliane.info”.
For example, in the screenshot below, one can observe search ads for the US Army National Guard being served on “search.howtolosebellyfat.shop/search” via a pop-out that was opened while a user was watching porn on dastanhisexxy.cc. The title of the video is (translated from Iranian): “iranian sexy super clip movie, the girl is shaking the ground”
The pre-scripted, automated search query that was inputted into the search box without any user intervention was: “national guard college benefits”.
Screenshot showing two browser tabs. The left tab shows the Iranian language porn site dastanhisexy.cc. The right side shows a second tab that was automatically opened on the user’s browser without the user’s direct input. The second tab was auto-opened to the search page “search.howtolosebellyfat.shp/search”, with the search input box pre-populated with the term: “national guard college benefits”. Below the search input box, there are search ads visible for the US Army National Guard. The title of the porn video is (translated from Iranian): “iranian sexy super clip movie, the girl is shaking the ground”
Screenshot showing two browser tabs. The left tab shows the Iranian language porn site dastanhisexy.cc. The right side shows a second tab that was automatically opened on the user’s browser without the user’s direct input. The second tab was auto-opened to the search page “search.howtolosebellyfat.shp/search”, with the search input box pre-populated with the term: sign up for bonus credit card”. Below the search input box, there are search ads visible for American Express.
Screenshot showing two browser tabs. The left tab shows the Iranian language porn site dastanhisexy.cc. The right side shows a second tab that was automatically opened on the user’s browser without the user’s direct input. The second tab was auto-opened to the search page “search.howtolosebellyfat.shp/search”, with the search input box pre-populated with the term: “air force retired pay”. Below the search input box, there are search ads visible for the US Air Force. The subtitle of the porn video is (translated from Iranian): “Iranian anal sex clip”
Screenshot showing two browser tabs. The left tab shows the Italian language animal porn site solopornoitaliane.info. The right side shows a second tab that was automatically opened on the user’s browser without the user’s direct input. The second tab was auto-opened to the search page “search.howtolosebellyfat.shp/search”, with the search input box pre-populated with the term: “alugueis de carro”. Below the search input box, there are search ads visible for Hertz Gold Plus Rewards.
Screenshot showing two browser tabs. The left tab shows the Italian language animal porn site solopornoitaliane.info. The right side shows a second tab that was automatically opened on the user’s browser without the user’s direct input. The second tab was auto-opened to the search page “search.howtolosebellyfat.shp/search”, with the search input box pre-populated with the term: “cyber security checklist”. Below the search input box, there are search ads visible for AT&T Cybersecurity and for Push Security.
Screenshot showing two browser tabs. The left tab shows the Italian language animal porn site solopornoitaliane.info. The right side shows a second tab that was automatically opened on the user’s browser without the user’s direct input. The second tab was auto-opened to the search page “search.howtolosebellyfat.shp/search”, with the search input box pre-populated with the term: “dodge dealers in ga”. Below the search input box, there are search ads visible for Dodge, Ram, and Ford cars.
Screenshot showing two browser tabs. The left tab shows the Italian language animal porn site solopornoitaliane.info. The right side shows a second tab that was automatically opened on the user’s browser without the user’s direct input. The second tab was auto-opened to the search page “search.howtolosebellyfat.shp/search”, with the search input box pre-populated with the term: “earl tindol ford used cars”. Below the search input box, there are search ads visible for Hyundai USA and CarMax.
Screenshot showing two browser tabs. The left tab shows the Italian language animal porn site solopornoitaliane.info. The right side shows a second tab that was automatically opened on the user’s browser without the user’s direct input. The second tab was auto-opened to the search page “search.howtolosebellyfat.shp/search”, with the search input box pre-populated with the term: “jeep dealers in new hampshire”. Below the search input box, there are search ads visible for Jeep cars.
Screenshot showing two browser tabs. The left tab shows the Italian language animal porn site solopornoitaliane.info. The right side shows a second tab that was automatically opened on the user’s browser without the user’s direct input. The second tab was auto-opened to the search page “search.howtolosebellyfat.shp/search”, with the search input box pre-populated with the term: “san antonio hotels indoor pool”. Below the search input box, there are search ads visible for IHG Hotels & Resorts and for Vrbo
Screenshot showing two browser tabs. The left tab shows the Iranian language porn site dastanhisexy.cc. The right side shows a second tab that was automatically opened on the user’s browser without the user’s direct input. The second tab was auto-opened to the search page “search.howtolosebellyfat.shp/search”, with the search input box pre-populated with the term: “audi s3 headlight”. Below the search input box, there are search ads visible for the Audi USA.
Screenshot showing two browser tabs. The left tab shows the Iranian language porn site dastanhisexy.cc. The right side shows a second tab that was automatically opened on the user’s browser without the user’s direct input. The second tab was auto-opened to the search page “search.howtolosebellyfat.shp/search”, with the search input box pre-populated with the term: “car rental izmir airport”. Below the search input box, there are search ads visible for Expedia and for Enterprise Rent-A-Car.
Screenshot showing two browser tabs. The left tab shows the Iranian language porn site dastanhisexy.cc. The right side shows a second tab that was automatically opened on the user’s browser without the user’s direct input. The second tab was auto-opened to the search page “search.howtolosebellyfat.shp/search”, with the search input box pre-populated with the term: “mid-size vehicle”. Below the search input box, there are search ads visible for Genesis and Nissan cars.
Screenshot showing two browser tabs. The left tab shows the Iranian language porn site dastanhisexy.cc. The right side shows a second tab that was automatically opened on the user’s browser without the user’s direct input. The second tab was auto-opened to the search page “search.howtolosebellyfat.shp/search”, with the search input box pre-populated with the term: “internet provider tampa fl”. Below the search input box, there are search ads visible for Google Fi Wireless.
Screenshot showing two browser tabs. The left tab shows the Iranian language porn site dastanhisexy.cc. The right side shows a second tab that was automatically opened on the user’s browser without the user’s direct input. The second tab was auto-opened to the search page “search.howtolosebellyfat.shp/search”, with the search input box pre-populated with the term: “best looking cell phones”. Below the search input box, there are search ads visible for Google Pixel phones and for BestBuy.
Screenshot showing two browser tabs. The left tab shows the Iranian language porn site dastanhisexy.cc. The right side shows a second tab that was automatically opened on the user’s browser without the user’s direct input. The second tab was auto-opened to the search page “search.howtolosebellyfat.shp/search”, with the search input box pre-populated with the term: “earthlink business internet”. Below the search input box, there are search ads visible for T-Mobile and Google Fi wireless.
Results – brands whose search ads were observed on Breitbart.com
As mentioned before, some brands reported that their ads were being observed on Breitbart.com despite their efforts to exclude the website from their ad buys. This merited the question of whether there were any other brands which had declared they had excluded a specific website – such as Breitbart.com – from their ad buys, yet still had ads served on said website.
Uber Technologies, Inc., which “had specifically requested that its ads not appear on Breitbart at all” and “tried to stop having its ads run on” Breitbart, were observed to have their search ads on Breitbart specifically as recently as November, 2023.
Screenshot of a Uber search ad observed on Breitbart.com in November, 2023.
The New York Times previously reported that “advertisers, including BMW of North America and Scribie, a transcription service, also appeared on Breitbart after blocking their ads from the site, a practice known as blacklisting.”
However, it appears that search ads for BMW USA are still being served on Breitbart.com via the Google Search Partners (GSP) network.
Screenshot of a BMW USA search ad observed on Breitbart.com via the Google Search Partners (GSP) network.
According to the New York Times, “Justin Oliver, who oversees digital marketing for Scribie, a start-up in San Francisco, blocked Breitbart from the sites it may advertise on through Google after Sleeping Giants contacted the company in late February. He assumed the issue was resolved”.
However, it appears that search ads for Scribie are still being served on Breitbart.com via the Google Search Partners (GSP) network.
Screenshot of a Scribie search ad observed on Breitbart.com via the Google Search Partners (GSP) network.
The eye glasses company Warby Parker also stated they tried to exclude Breitbart.com from their ad buys, telling journalists that: “Warby Parker does not buy advertising from Breitbart News Network directly. If one of our ads appears on a Breitbart site, it’s due to a sale through third-party ad networks or ad exchanges. We are looking into actively blocking our ads from appearing on Brietbart News Network”.
However, search ads for Warby Parker were recently observed on Breitbart.com as part of the Google Search Partners (GSP) network.
Screenshot of a Warby Parker search ad observed on Breitbart.com via the Google Search Partners (GSP) network.
USA Today previously reported that Danish pharmaceutical manufacturer Novo Nordisk had said “they also plan to stop advertising on Breitbart.”
However, ads for Novo Nordisk’s weight loss drug Ozempic were observed serving on Breitbart.com via the Google Search Partners (GSP) network.
Screenshot of a Novo Nordisk Ozempic weight loss drug search ad observed on Breitbart.com via the Google Search Partners (GSP) network.
The German airline Lufthansa previously announced – via their corporate Twitter account – that the brand was blocking Breitbart from its ad buys.
Screenshot of a Twitter post from Lufthansa’s corporate account (with English translation) showing that the airline blocked Breitbart from its ad buys.
However, search ads for Lufthansa were recently observed serving on Breitbart.com via the Google Search Partners (GSP) network.
Screenshot of Lufthansa airlines search ad observed on Breitbart.com via the Google Search Partners (GSP) network.
Some political fundraising campaigns, such as those of Senator Amy Klobuchar or House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, were also observed to have ads on Breitbart.com.
Screenshot of political fundraising ads for Senator Amy Klobuchar on breitbart.com
Media agencies such as Publicis and Goodway Group were also observed to have their own search ad campaigns served on Breitbart.com.
Screenshot of a search ad for Publicis media agency, observed on Breitbart.com
Results – advertisers whose search ads were observed on Iranian & pornographic GSP sites
Many US federal government, British (UK) government, non-profit, Fortune 500, and SMBs brands were observed to have search ads appearing on various Iranian, pornographic, and sanctioned websites.
Results – US federal government ads observed on Iranian & pornographic GSP sites
As mentioned previously, multiple US federal government agencies appear to have had their search ads served on putative SDN sanctioned and Iranian and pornographic websites.
These include search ads for:
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), part of the Department of Justice
Healthcare.gov – part of U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (Department of Health & Human Services)
US Secret Service
Department of Homeland Security (US Customs and Border Protection)
US Treasury
US National Security Agency (NSA), part of the US intelligence community (USIC)
Department of Veteran Affairs
Department of Transportation
General Services Administration (GSA)
Screenshot of Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) search ads being served on iasco.ir, the website of the Iranian Alloy Steel Company based in Tehran. The company is under US Treasury OFAC sanctions under US Presidential Executive Order 13871 – “Imposing Sanctions With Respect to the Iron, Steel, Aluminum, and Copper Sectors of Iran”
Screenshot of healthcare.gov (Center for Medicaid & Medicare Services under the Department of Health & Human services) search ads being served on iasco.ir, the website of the Iranian Alloy Steel Company based in Tehran. The company is under US Treasury OFAC sanctions under US Presidential Executive Order 13871 – “Imposing Sanctions With Respect to the Iron, Steel, Aluminum, and Copper Sectors of Iran”
Screenshot of healthcare.gov search ads observed on a Russian porn site.
Screenshot of Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) search ads being served on iasco.ir, the website of the Iranian Alloy Steel Company based in Tehran. The company is under US Treasury OFAC sanctions under US Presidential Executive Order 13871 – “Imposing Sanctions With Respect to the Iron, Steel, Aluminum, and Copper Sectors of Iran”
Screenshot of US Secret Service and Department of Homeland Security (Custom & Border Patrol) search ads being served on iasco.ir, the website of the Iranian Alloy Steel Company based in Tehran. The company is under US Treasury OFAC sanctions under US Presidential Executive Order 13871 – “Imposing Sanctions With Respect to the Iron, Steel, Aluminum, and Copper Sectors of Iran”
Screenshot of US National Security Agency (NSA) search ads being served on iasco.ir, the website of the Iranian Alloy Steel Company based in Tehran. The company is under US Treasury OFAC sanctions under US Presidential Executive Order 13871 – “Imposing Sanctions With Respect to the Iron, Steel, Aluminum, and Copper Sectors of Iran”
Screenshot of US Treasury (Mint) search ads being served on iasco.ir, the website of the Iranian Alloy Steel Company based in Tehran. The company is under US Treasury OFAC sanctions under US Presidential Executive Order 13871 – “Imposing Sanctions With Respect to the Iron, Steel, Aluminum, and Copper Sectors of Iran”
Screenshot of US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) search ads observed on forumporn.org, a pornographic website
Screenshot of US Secret Service and Department of Homeland Security (Custom & Border Patrol) search ads observed on forumporn.org, a pornographic website
Screenshot of US National Security Agency search ads observed on forumporn.org, a pornographic website
Screenshot of Treasury (Mint) search ads observed on forumporn.org, a pornographic website
Screenshot of US Secret Service search ads serving on a putative Iranian website via the Google Search Partners (GSP) network.
Screenshot of General Services Administration (GSA) search ads observed on an Iranian website
US Department of Veteran Affairs (USVA) search ads observed on an Iranian website
Screenshot of US Department of Veteran Affairs ads observed on a Russian porn website.
Screenshot of Department of Transportation search ads observed on an Iranian website
Screenshot of US Department of Transportation search ads observed on a Russian porn website.
Results – British intelligence ads observed on Iranian, Russian & pornographic GSP sites
As mentioned previously, multiple British intelligence agencies appear to have had their search ads served on Iranian, Russian, and pornographic websites.
These include search ads for Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6, and for Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), the British signals intelligence agency.
Screenshot of GCHQ search ads on an Iranian website.
Screenshot of SIS (MI6) search ads on an Iranian website.
Screenshot of SIS (MI6) search ads on a Russian porn website.
Screenshot of MI6 (SIS) search ads on a Russian website.
Screenshot of GCHQ search ads on a Russian website.
Screenshot of GCHQ search ads on a Russian porn site.
Results – US politicians’ political fundraising ads observed on SDN sanctioned, Iranian, & pornographic GSP sites
Many American Democrat and Republican politicians and political groups were observed having their search ads displayed on sanctioned, Iranian, and pornographic websites via the Google Search Partners network.
For example, Republican Congresswoman Lauren Boebert’s political fundraising campaign was observed having search ads soliciting donations on forumporn.org, an adult content site.
Screenshot of a political fundraising search ad served on forumporn.org, via the Google Search Partners network.
Representative Boebert’s political fundraising search ads were also observed on the pornographic comics website comixxx.pro (known as “Porno malina”).
Screenshot of search ads for Congresswoman Lauren Boebert serving on a pornographic website called comixxx.pro (“Porno malina”), via the Google Search Partners (GSP) network.
Search ads for Speaker of the House of Representatives – Mike Johnson – were observed on a Russian porn site and on an Iranian website.
Search ads for Speaker Mike Johnson, observed on a Russian porn website.
Search ads for Speaker Mike Johnson observed on an Iranian website.
Search ads for Friends of (Congressman) Matt Gaetz were also observed on the Russian porn site.
Search ads for Friends of Matt Gaetz observed on a Russian porn website.
The Republican National Committee and the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee were also observed on the pornographic comics website comixxx.pro (known as “Porno malina”).
Screenshot of search ads for the Republican National Committee and the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee observed on comixxx.pro (“Porno malina”), via the Google Search Partners (GSP) network
The Republican National Committee (RNC) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries were observed having their political fundraising search ads served on the putative Iranian website shenasname.ir via the Google Search Partners network.
Screenshot of search ads for the Republican National Committee and for House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries observed on shenasname.ir – a putative Iranian website - via the Google Search Partners (GSP) network
Political fundraising search ad campaigns for Senator Ted Cruz, Senator Amy Klobuchar, Congressman David Trone, Congresswoman Lauren Boebert, House Minority Speaker Hakeem Jeffries, the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), Republican National Committee (RNC) and Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC), and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) were observed on various US Treasury OFAC SDN sanctioned Iranian and Russian websites, as well as on pornographic websites.
Screenshot of political fundraising search ads for House Minority leader Hakeem Jeffries being served on iasco.ir, the website of the Iranian Alloy Steel Company based in Tehran. The company is under US Treasury OFAC sanctions under US Presidential Executive Order 13871 – “Imposing Sanctions With Respect to the Iron, Steel, Aluminum, and Copper Sectors of Iran”
Screenshot of political fundraising search ads for Senator Ted Cruz being served on iasco.ir, the website of the Iranian Alloy Steel Company based in Tehran. The company is under US Treasury OFAC sanctions under US Presidential Executive Order 13871 – “Imposing Sanctions With Respect to the Iron, Steel, Aluminum, and Copper Sectors of Iran”
Screenshot of political fundraising search ads Congressman David Trone being served on iasco.ir, the website of the Iranian Alloy Steel Company based in Tehran. The company is under US Treasury OFAC sanctions under US Presidential Executive Order 13871 – “Imposing Sanctions With Respect to the Iron, Steel, Aluminum, and Copper Sectors of Iran”
Screenshot of a search ad for Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries observed on a Russian porn website.
Screenshot of political fundraising search ads for Michelle Steel being served on iasco.ir, the website of the Iranian Alloy Steel Company based in Tehran. The company is under US Treasury OFAC sanctions under US Presidential Executive Order 13871 – “Imposing Sanctions With Respect to the Iron, Steel, Aluminum, and Copper Sectors of Iran”
Screenshot of political fundraising search ads for the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) served on iasco.ir, the website of the Iranian Alloy Steel Company based in Tehran. The company is under US Treasury OFAC sanctions under US Presidential Executive Order 13871 – “Imposing Sanctions With Respect to the Iron, Steel, Aluminum, and Copper Sectors of Iran”
Screenshot of political fundraising search ads for the Republican National Committee (RNC) and Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC) observed on iasco.ir, the website of the Iranian Alloy Steel Company based in Tehran. The company is under US Treasury OFAC sanctions under US Presidential Executive Order 13871 – “Imposing Sanctions With Respect to the Iron, Steel, Aluminum, and Copper Sectors of Iran”
Screenshot of political fundraising search ads for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) observed on iasco.ir, the website of the Iranian Alloy Steel Company based in Tehran. The company is under US Treasury OFAC sanctions under US Presidential Executive Order 13871 – “Imposing Sanctions With Respect to the Iron, Steel, Aluminum, and Copper Sectors of Iran”
Screenshot of political fundraising search ads for Senator Amy Klobuchar observed on iasco.ir, the website of the Iranian Alloy Steel Company based in Tehran. The company is under US Treasury OFAC sanctions under US Presidential Executive Order 13871 – “Imposing Sanctions With Respect to the Iron, Steel, Aluminum, and Copper Sectors of Iran”
Screenshot of political fundraising search ads for Senator Amy Klobuchar observed on gpsm.ru, the website of the AO Institute Giprostroymost-Saint-Petersburg, in St. Petersburg, Russia. The company is under US Treasury OFAC sanctions under US Presidential Executive Order 13685 – “Blocking Property of Certain Persons and Prohibiting Certain Transactions With Respect to the Crimea Region of Ukraine”
Screenshot of political fundraising search ads for Senator Amy Klobuchar and the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee observed on pornocriceto.com, an Italian porn website.
Screenshot of political fundraising ads for Congressman David Trone on gpsm.ru, the website of the AO Institute Giprostroymost-Saint-Petersburg, in St. Petersburg, Russia. The company is under US Treasury OFAC sanctions under US Presidential Executive Order 13685 – “Blocking Property of Certain Persons and Prohibiting Certain Transactions With Respect to the Crimea Region of Ukraine”
Screenshot of political fundraising search ads for the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC) and the Republican National Committee (RNC) being served on gpsm.ru, the website of the AO Institute Giprostroymost-Saint-Petersburg, in St. Petersburg, Russia. The company is under US Treasury OFAC sanctions under US Presidential Executive Order 13685 – “Blocking Property of Certain Persons and Prohibiting Certain Transactions With Respect to the Crimea Region of Ukraine”
Screenshot of political fundraising search ads for Senator Ted Cruz being served on gpsm.ru, the website of the AO Institute Giprostroymost-Saint-Petersburg, in St. Petersburg, Russia. The company is under US Treasury OFAC sanctions under US Presidential Executive Order 13685 – “Blocking Property of Certain Persons and Prohibiting Certain Transactions With Respect to the Crimea Region of Ukraine”
Screenshot of political fundraising search ads for Senator Ted Cruz being served on forumporn.org, a pornographic website.
Screenshot of political fundraising search ads for Steven Horsford being served on forumporn.org, a pornographic website.
Some political fundraising entities – such as “Winning Republican Strategies” – were also observed to have their ads served on Iranian or pornographic websites.
Screenshot of Winning Republican Strategies search ads observed on arshadsara.ir
Screenshot of Winning Republican Strategies search ads observed on forumporn.org
Results – US & British armed forces ads observed on SDN sanctioned, Iranian, & pornographic GSP sites
Multiple branches of the US and British (UK) armed forces had ads observed on various pornographic or Iranian websites, including Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) sanctioned Iranian websites.
Search ads for the following entities were observed on sanctioned Iranian or pornographic websites:
The US Army
US Army National Guard
US Air Force
US Space Force (USSF)
US Coast Guard
The US Department of Defense (DOD) - Military OneSource
UK Royal Air Force (RAF)
Screenshot of US Army National Guard search ads being served on iasco.ir, the website of the Iranian Alloy Steel Company based in Tehran. The company is under US Treasury OFAC sanctions under US Presidential Executive Order 13871 – “Imposing Sanctions With Respect to the Iron, Steel, Aluminum, and Copper Sectors of Iran”
Screenshot of US Army search ads being served on iasco.ir, the website of the Iranian Alloy Steel Company based in Tehran. The company is under US Treasury OFAC sanctions under US Presidential Executive Order 13871 – “Imposing Sanctions With Respect to the Iron, Steel, Aluminum, and Copper Sectors of Iran”
Screenshot of US Air Force search ads being served on iasco.ir, the website of the Iranian Alloy Steel Company based in Tehran. The company is under US Treasury OFAC sanctions under US Presidential Executive Order 13871 – “Imposing Sanctions With Respect to the Iron, Steel, Aluminum, and Copper Sectors of Iran”
Screenshot of US Space Force search ads being served on iasco.ir, the website of the Iranian Alloy Steel Company based in Tehran. The company is under US Treasury OFAC sanctions under US Presidential Executive Order 13871 – “Imposing Sanctions With Respect to the Iron, Steel, Aluminum, and Copper Sectors of Iran”
Screenshot of US Coast Guard search ads being served on iasco.ir, the website of the Iranian Alloy Steel Company based in Tehran. The company is under US Treasury OFAC sanctions under US Presidential Executive Order 13871 – “Imposing Sanctions With Respect to the Iron, Steel, Aluminum, and Copper Sectors of Iran”
Screenshot of US Military OneSource search ads being served on iasco.ir, the website of the Iranian Alloy Steel Company based in Tehran. The company is under US Treasury OFAC sanctions under US Presidential Executive Order 13871 – “Imposing Sanctions With Respect to the Iron, Steel, Aluminum, and Copper Sectors of Iran”
Screenshot of British Royal Air Force (RAF) Ministry of Defence search ads observed on iasco.ir.
Screenshot of British Royal Air Force (RAF) Ministry of Defence search ads observed on gpsm.ru.
Screenshot of US Army search ads observed on forumporn.org, a pornography site
Screenshot of US Air Force, US Space Force, and Lockheed Martin search ads observed on forumporn.org, a pornography site
Screenshot of US Coast Guard search ads observed on forumporn.org, a pornography site
Screenshot of US National Guard search ads observed on forumporn.org, a pornography site
Screenshot of US Military OneSource (Department of Defense) ads observed on forumporn.org, a pornography site
Screenshot of British Royal Air Force (RAF) Ministry of Defence search ads observed on forumporn.org, a pornographic website.
Results – Major brands whose ads were served on GSP sites
Many large brands, including Fortune 500 and FTSE 100 companies, were observed to have had their search ads appear on various Google Search Partner (GSP) sites, including Iranian sites, pornographic sites, OFAC SDN sanctioned sites, piracy sites, and/or Breitbart.com.
For example, in the screenshot below, one can observe search ads for Apple and Verizon served on iasco.ir.
Screenshot of Apple and Verizon search ads observed on iasco.ir, the website of the Iranian Alloy Steel Company based in Tehran. The company is under US Treasury OFAC sanctions under US Presidential Executive Order 13871 – “Imposing Sanctions With Respect to the Iron, Steel, Aluminum, and Copper Sectors of Iran”
Other brands whose ads were observed on SDN sanctioned Iranian or pornographic websites include SnapChat, Goldman Sachs, Facebook, Verizon, T-Mobile, Amazon, Yelp, Walmart, Uber, Target, Microsoft, Disney, Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Deloitte, KPMG, and hundreds of other Fortune 500 and FTSE 100 brands.
Screenshot of Goldman Sachs search ads observed on iasco.ir, the website of the Iranian Alloy Steel Company based in Tehran. The company is under US Treasury OFAC sanctions under US Presidential Executive Order 13871 – “Imposing Sanctions With Respect to the Iron, Steel, Aluminum, and Copper Sectors of Iran”
Screenshot of Boston Consulting Group and Deloitte search ads observed on iasco.ir, the website of the Iranian Alloy Steel Company based in Tehran. The company is under US Treasury OFAC sanctions under US Presidential Executive Order 13871 – “Imposing Sanctions With Respect to the Iron, Steel, Aluminum, and Copper Sectors of Iran”
Screenshot of SnapChat and Yelp search ads being served on iasco.ir, the website of the Iranian Alloy Steel Company based in Tehran. The company is under US Treasury OFAC sanctions under US Presidential Executive Order 13871 – “Imposing Sanctions With Respect to the Iron, Steel, Aluminum, and Copper Sectors of Iran”
Screenshot of Facebook search ads being served on iasco.ir, the website of the Iranian Alloy Steel Company based in Tehran. The company is under US Treasury OFAC sanctions under US Presidential Executive Order 13871 – “Imposing Sanctions With Respect to the Iron, Steel, Aluminum, and Copper Sectors of Iran”
Screenshot of Microsoft search ads being served on iasco.ir, the website of the Iranian Alloy Steel Company based in Tehran. The company is under US Treasury OFAC sanctions under US Presidential Executive Order 13871 – “Imposing Sanctions With Respect to the Iron, Steel, Aluminum, and Copper Sectors of Iran”
Screenshot of Apple, Verizon, and T-Mobile search ads observed on pornocriceto.com, an Italian porn site.
Screenshot of Microsoft search ads observed on pornocriceto.com, an Italian porn site.
Screenshot of Facebook search ads observed on pornocriceto.com, an Italian porn site.
Screenshot of Uber, Target, and Amazon search ads observed on pornocriceto.com, an Italian porn site.
Screenshot of Walmart search ads observed on pornocriceto.com, an Italian porn site.
Screenshot of KMPG search ads observed on pornocriceto.com, an Italian porn site.
Screenshot of Disney+ search ads observed on pornocriceto.com, an Italian porn site.
Screenshot of Deloitte search ads observed on pornocriceto.com, an Italian porn site.
Results – Media agencies whose ads were observed on SDN Iranian & pornographic GSP sites
Several large media agencies, including Publicis, Jellyfish, and Goodway Group, had their search ads observed on various Iranian and pornographic websites.
For example, in the two screenshots below, one can observe ads for Publicis on pornographic and Iranian websites.
Screenshot of a search for Publicis media agency, served on a Russian pornographic website via the Search Partners network.
Screenshot of Publicis media agency search ads observed on an Iranian website.
In the three screenshots below, one can observe search ads for Goodway Group media agency on various Iranian and pornographic websites.
Screenshot of Goodway Group media agency search ads observed on a Russian porn website.
Screenshot of Goodway Group media agency search ads observed on an Italian porn website.
Screenshot of Goodway Group media agency search ads observed on an Iranian website.
In the screenshots below, one can also observe search ads for Jellyfish media agency on various Iranian, Russian, and pornographic websites.
Screenshot of Jellyfish media agency search ads observed on an Italian porn site.
Screenshot of Jellyfish media agency search ads observed on a Russian porn site.
Screenshot of Jellyfish media agency search ads observed on an Iranian site.
Screenshot of Jellyfish media agency search ads observed on a Russian website.
Results – Media publishers whose ads were observed on SDN sanctioned, Iranian, & pornographic GSP sites
Many large media publishers, including film studios and newspapers had their search ads observed on various websites in the Google Search Partners (GSP) network.
These include:
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ)
The New York Times (NYT)
The Washington Post
Business Insider
Adweek
Marketing Brew
The Financial Times (FT)
The Los Angeles Times
The Economist
Conde Nast
Foreign Policy (FP)
Hearst
Bloomberg
The Guardian
Disney
Comcast
Verizon
A&E Networks
Paramount
NBC Universal
HBO Max
Screenshot of New York Times and Wall Street Journal ads observed on iasco.ir, the website of the Iranian Alloy Steel Company based in Tehran. The company is under US Treasury OFAC sanctions under US Presidential Executive Order 13871 – “Imposing Sanctions With Respect to the Iron, Steel, Aluminum, and Copper Sectors of Iran”.
Screenshot of Washington Post ads observed on iasco.ir, the website of the Iranian Alloy Steel Company based in Tehran. The company is under US Treasury OFAC sanctions under US Presidential Executive Order 13871 – “Imposing Sanctions With Respect to the Iron, Steel, Aluminum, and Copper Sectors of Iran”.
Screenshot of Business Insider ads observed on iasco.ir, the website of the Iranian Alloy Steel Company based in Tehran. The company is under US Treasury OFAC sanctions under US Presidential Executive Order 13871 – “Imposing Sanctions With Respect to the Iron, Steel, Aluminum, and Copper Sectors of Iran”.
Screenshot of The Guardian ads observed on iasco.ir, the website of the Iranian Alloy Steel Company based in Tehran. The company is under US Treasury OFAC sanctions under US Presidential Executive Order 13871 – “Imposing Sanctions With Respect to the Iron, Steel, Aluminum, and Copper Sectors of Iran”.
Screenshot of Foreign Policy search ads observed on iasco.ir, the website of the Iranian Alloy Steel Company based in Tehran. The company is under US Treasury OFAC sanctions under US Presidential Executive Order 13871 – “Imposing Sanctions With Respect to the Iron, Steel, Aluminum, and Copper Sectors of Iran”.
Screenshot of Adweek, The Guardian, Conde Nast (vogue), and Inc.com search ads observed on pornocriceto.com, an Italian porn site.
Screenshot of Morning Brew search ads observed on pornocriceto.com, an Italian porn site.
Screenshot of search ads for Foreign Policy observed on arshadsara.ir, an Iranian website.
Results – Ad tech companies whose ads were served on SDN sanctioned, Iranian, or pornographic sites
Multiple digital advertising & ad tech firms had their search ads observed on various Iranian or pornographic websites.
These include:
Facebook
Yelp
Hulu Ad Manager
Constant Contact
Tik Tok
Taboola
Outbrain
Human security
Flashtalking
MNTN (mountain.com)
AppsFlyer (iran)
DoubleVerify
Screenshot of DoubleVerify search ads observed on forumporn.org
Screenshot of HUMAN Security and DataDome search ads observed on forumporn.org
Screenshot of HUMAN Security search ads observed on arshadsara.ir, an Iranian website
Screenshot of DoubleVerify search ads observed on arshadsara.ir, an Iranian website
Results – European Commission search ads observed on Russian, Iranian, or pornographic sites
The various EU political groups such as Renew Europe (a liberal, pro-European political group of the European Parliament) and European Commission (EC) – the executive branch of the European Union – was also observed as having their ads served on Russian, Iranian, and pornographic websites.
Screenshot of Renew Europe ads observed on arshadsara.ir, an Iranian website.
Screenshot of European Commission search ads observed on arshadsara.ir, an Iranian website.
Screenshot of European Commission and Invest in Austria search ads observed on forum.awd.ru, a Russian forum portal.
Search ads of European Commission search ads on a Russian website.
Results – Google ads observed on SDN sanctioned, Iranian, & pornographic GSP websites
Google had search ad campaigns for its own products observed on sanctioned, Iranian, and pornographic websites.
The list of Google products whose search ads were observed on such websites includes:
Google Ads
Google Cloud
Google Analytics
YouTube
Google Pixel
Screenshot of search ads for Google Ads observed on arshadsara.ir, a putative Iranian website.
Screenshot of search ads for Google Cloud observed on kookthebirds.ir, a putative Iranian website.
Screenshot of search ads for Google Analytics and Google Ads observed on krrw.ir, a putative Iranian website.
Translated screenshot of search ads for YouTube Ads observed on pornocriceto.com, an Italian language porn site.
Translated screenshot of search ads for Google Pixel phones observed on pornocriceto.com, an Italian language porn site.
Results - Performance Max (pmax) campaigns appear to be delivering on Iranian, pornographic, and pop-under websites
As described in the background section of this report, Google has created a new ad targeting algorithm called “Performance Max” or “pmax”. According to Google’s documentation, Performance Max “combines Google's AI technologies” and “audiences” and “audience signals”.
“Performance Max uses machine learning models to optimize bids and placements to drive conversions or conversion value for your goals, but you can provide important inputs like audience signals.”
Advertisers have told Adalytics that they do not receive detailed placement reports on where ads are served on Google Search Partners when they run Performance Max campaigns. Furthermore, advertisers have reported they do not appear to know of a way to opt-out of Search Partners when using Performance Max.
During the course of this project, there were several instances where what appeared to be Performance Max campaigns had their ads served on Iranian, pornographic, and/or pop-under websites in the Search Partners network.
For example, in the screenshot below, one can observe three distinct tab panes. The first illustrates that the consumer was viewing the Italian bestiality and zoophilia website solopornoitaliane.info. As soon as the consumer clicks anywhere on the screen, a second distinct pop-under tab is opened, which re-directs the consumer to the search.howtolosebellyfat.shop/search webpage. The search query “the economist subscription student discount” is automatically searched without any consumer input.
This search query then triggers search ads for The Economist (subscribenow.economist.com). The search ad click through URL is: https://www.economist.com/checksandbalance?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=a_io&utm_content=checksbalancesitelink&utm_medium=cpc.adword.pd&utm_source=google&ppccampaignID=17210591673&ppcadID=&utm_campaign=a.22brand_pmax&utm_content=conversion.direct-response.anonymous&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=5. The UTM campaign query string parameters suggest The Economist running Performance Max campaigns, which are being served on the search page due to automated queries and pop-unders on the Italian bestiality website.
Screenshot of search ads for The Economist serving on a pop-under website with pre-scripted search queries. The source code of The Economist ad references “pmax”.
Other advertisers whose ads appeared to include references to “Performance Max” or “Pmax” and were served on Iranian, pornographic, or pop-under sites included:
Tesco UK
Disney
The National Basketball Association (NBA) League Pass
The Athletic (owned by The New York Times)
Max (digital TV streaming service, owned by Warner Bros Discovery)
Bloomberg
Virgin Money UK
Sky UK (sky.com/broadband)
DropBox
Indeed (job board)
Trevecca Nazarene University
SolarWinds
Lands’ End
Elastic.co
shoebacca.com
tripmasters.com
Wallet Genius
For example, in the screenshot in below one can observe a search ad for Bloomberg, served on the Russian porn website pornobaza24.com. The right side of the screenshot shows Chrome Developer Tools, with the UTM medium string for the Bloomberg ad set to “cpc_pmax”.
Screenshot of a Bloomberg search ad served on Russian porn website pornobaza24.top via the Google Search Partners network. The source code of the ad on the right side references “pmax”.
As another example, one can observe search ads for the National Basketball Association (NBA) League Pass, serving on an Iranian website. The source code of these search ads references “PerformanceMax”.
Screenshot of an Iranian website, showing a search ad for NBA League Pass. The NBA ad’s source references “PerformanceMax”.
As a fourth example, in the screenshot below, one can observed a search ad for Tesco Groceries Online in the UK, served on the Italian porn site pornocriceto.com. The source code of the Tesco search ad references “PMAX”.
Screenshot of an Italian porn website, showing a search ad for Tesco Groceries Online. The Tesco ad’s source references “PMAX”.
In a fifth example, in the screenshot below one can observe a search ad for “Tesco Groceries Online – Book Delivery Or Click+Collect” (www.tesco.com/groceries/?sc_cmp%3Dppc*GHS%2B-%2BGrocery%2B-%2BNew*MPX_PMAX_All_OT_Home%2BEntertainment_Online%2BBudget_1009392***%26gclsrc%3D). The source code of the Tesco search ads references “PMAX”. The ad was served on a Russian pornographic website.
Screenshot of a Tesco ad served on a Russian pornographic website. The source code of the ad references “PMAX”.
Next, in the screenshot below, one can see search ads for The Athletic (owned by The New York Times), Max (owned by Warner Bros Discovery) and NBA League Pass, served on a pornographic website. Each of the three ads references “performancemax” or “pmax” in ad clickthrough URLs.
Screenshot of a porn forum website, showing three search ads for NBA League Pass, The Athleti (owned by the New York Times), and Max (owned by Warner Bros Discovery). The ads’ source code references “pmax” or “performancemax”.
In the screenshot below, one can observe search ads for The Athletic (owned by the New York Times) serving on an Iranian website. The source code of the search ads references “performancemax”.
Screenshot of an Iranian website, showing search ads for The Athletic (owned by the New York Times). The ads’ source code references “performancemax”.
In the screenshot below, one can observe a search ad for Disney on an Iranian website. The search ad references “PMAX” in the source code of the ad.
Screenshot of a Disney search ad observed on an Iranian website. The source code of the ad references “PMAX”.
In the screenshot below, one can observe a search ad for Disney on a Russian porn website. The search ad references “PMAX” in the source code of the ad.
Screenshot of a Disney search ad observed on a Russian porn website. The source code of the ad references “PMAX”.
In the screenshot below, one can observe a search ad for Virgin Money UK on a Russian porn website. The search ad references “p-max” in the source code of the ad.
Screenshot of a Virgin Money UK search ad observed on a Russian porn website. The source code of the ad references “p-max”.
Results - Candy, soda, cleaning detergent, and alcohol ads observed on child-directed websites
As mentioned earlier, the Google Search Partner network appears to include various child-directed websites, such as kidzsearch.com.
Child-directed websites can pose a unique challenge for various categories of advertisers.
In 2016, “a group of six leading confectioners […] pledged to not market their products to children under the age of 12. The new initiative — dubbed the Children’s Confection Advertising Initiative — was jointly launched by the Council of Better Business Bureaus and the National Confectioners Association. It includes commitments from: Ferrara Candy Company; Ghirardelli Chocolate Company; Jelly Belly Candy Company; Just Born Quality Confections; The Promotion in Motion Companies, Inc.; and R.M. Palmer Company.”
For example, various soda and candy brands have signed the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI) pledge, in which they self-declare these brands will try to avoid advertising various sugary products on child-directed environments.
Screenshot from the CFBAI website - bbbprograms.org/programs/all-programs/cfbai.
For example, Lindt pledged that “Lindt will not pay for or actively seek integration of its products in any medium primarily directed to children under 13.”
Screenshot of the Lindt CFBAI pledge.
As another example, “Ferrero U.S.A. does not pay for or actively seek to place or integrate its foods or beveragesin the program/editorial content of any medium primarily directed to children under age 13 for the purpose of promoting the sale of those products.”
Screenshot of the Ferrero U.S.A. CFBAI pledge.
Ferrero, Lindt, and other CFBAI signatories’ search and shopping ads were observed on various websites which describe themselves as being “for kids”. For example, in the screenshot below, one can observe search ads for Lindt and Ferrero Rocher served via the Google Search Partner network on kidzsearch.com, a website describes itself as “the best search tool for kids” and “a special search environment made just for kids”.
Screenshot of Lindt and Ferro Rocher search ads served on kidzsearch.com, a website that describes itself as “the best search tool for kids” and “a special search environment made just for kids”.
Screenshot of Coca-Cola search ads served on kidzsearch.com, a website that describes itself as “the best search tool for kids” and “a special search environment made just for kids”.
In another example, one can observe search ads for Ferrero Rocher and Lindt served on kiddle.co, a self-described “search engine for kids”.
Screenshot of Ferrero Rocher and Lindt ads observed on kiddle.co, a self-described “search engine for kids"
Screenshot of Coca-Cola search ads observed on kiddle.co, a self-described “search engine for kids"
In addition to various chocolate, sweets, and soda brands, search ads for what appear to be alcohol drinks were observed on various child-directed websites. Some alcohol brands may desire to avoid placing ads on websites that are directed at children. In the United Kingdom, Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is the self-regulatory organization of the advertising industry.
The ASA’s non-broadcast code states:
“Marketing communications must not be directed at people under 18 through the selection of media or the context in which they appear. No medium should be used to advertise alcoholic drinks if more than 25% of its audience is under 18 years of age.”
Screenshot of the UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) policy Section 18.15.
Ads for different alcohol brands, including vodka, beer, wine, and others, were observed on various self-described child-directed websites such as kidzsearch.com and kiddle.co. For example, in the screenshot below, one can observe search ads for Abstrakt Vodka observed on kidzsearch.com.
Screenshot of Abstrakt Vodka ads search ads on kidzsearch.com.
In the images below, one can observed screenshots of:
Abstrakt Vodka ads search ads on kidzsearch.com
Jack Daniels distributor search ads on kidzsearch.com
Irish Whiskey distributor search ad on kidzsearch.com
Corona distributor search ads on kidzsearch.com
Whiskey search ads on kidzsearch.com
Abstrakt vodka search ads on kiddle.co
Kinky Beverages search ads on kiddle.co
Screenshot of Jack Daniels search ads on kidzsearch.com
Screenshot of a Jameson Irish Whiskey distributor search ad on kidzsearch.com
Screenshot of Corona distributor search ads on kidzsearch.com
Screenshot of Corona distributor search ads on kiddle.co
Screenshot of whiskey search ads on kiddle.co
Screenshot of Abstrakt vodka search ads on kiddle.co
Screenshot of Kinky Beverages search ads on kiddle.co
Secondary exploratory research objectives & aims
Given concerns expressed to Adalytics by one of Adalytics’ Fortune 500 brand clients, the primary research objective of this study was to determine which websites appear to have search ads served on them via the Google Search Partners (GSP) network.
After achieving this primary research objective, Adalytics was assigned a secondary research objective to try to quantify what percentage of Google search ad campaigns was served on Google.com versus on the Search Partners network.
Adalytics has data access to over a billion (USD) dollars’ worth of search ad campaigns data from various Fortune 500 brands, media agency, non-profits, and SMBs. For each of these brands, agencies, and non-profits, Adalytics analyzed how many impressions, conversions, clicks, and spend was distributed on Google search (such as google.com or google.co.uk), versus the Search Partners network.
The search ad campaigns’ datasets included:
Tens of thousands of search ad campaigns
Over a billion USD (or foreign currency equivalents) in search media spend
Tens of billions of search ad impressions
Billions of ad clicks
6.7% of examined search campaign ad budget was spent on Search Partners & Display Expansion
In this, it was observed that approximately ~6.7% of billable costs (spend) was allocated on Google search partners or on “Display Expansion for Search Campaigns”. The majority of spend was allocated to Google Search.
These averages are only representative of the sample dataset from which they were taken. Other brands and media buyers may have more or less of their spend allocated on Search Partners or Display Expansion for Search Campaigns.
For example, there were thousands of search campaigns were Search Partners was completely opt-ed out of and disabled. For these campaigns, zero dollars’ worth of ad spend was allocated to Search Partners.
In some other search campaigns, upwards of 85% of search spend was allocated to Search Partners.
As such, it is advisable that each media buyer evaluate how much of their own campaign spend was allocated to Google.com versus the Search Partners and Display Expansion for Search Campaigns.
Google’s annual search ad revenue as of 2022 was $162.45 billion US dollars, according to Statista. If one were to simplistically assume that this sample is representative of the larger Google search ad ecosystem - which it is very likely not representative of - one could estimate that ~$11 billion USD in search ad campaign spend was allocated to Search Partners or Display Expansion for Search ad campaigns.
47.7% of examined search campaign ad impressions were observed serving on Search Partners & Display Expansion
Multiple Fortune 500 and government brands told Adalytics that even if they were not billed for search ad impressions served on a given search partners website (due to the ads not having been clicked by a consumer), the brands would still like to avoid having their ads served adjacent to pornographic or animal abuse content, as it is not consistent with the brand image they are trying to build for themselves
One brand executive who reviewed an advanced copy of this report commented to Adalytics:
“The adjacency to unsafe, unsuitable, and in some cases illegal sites would be a serious concern for brands, regardless of whether any money has changed hands. Brands do not want to be seen to endorse the wrong type of content by appearing alongside it, because of the reputational damage it may cause. Their ads appearing on objectionable sites is a significant problem in its own right, with or without monetization (i.e. a click). Many web users will not be familiar with the Cost per Click (CPC) model used in Paid Search and therefore may assume that the brand has already paid for that ad placement, even if they do not click on the ad.”
Based on these inputs, Adalytics also analyzed what percentage of ad impressions were served on the Search Partners network and Display Expansion for Search ads versus on Google search. it was observed that 47.7% of search campaign impressions was allocated on Search Partners or Display Expansion for Search Campaigns.
This represented several hundred million search ad impressions in the sample dataset.
Caveats & Limitations
Interpreting the results of this observational study requires nuance and caution. This study should not be construed as legal commentary or an opinion piece. This study does not allege that any entities knowingly or intentionally violated US Treasury sanctions or any other laws. This study did not make any extensive consultations with sanctions law or other legal experts. The study is meant to be viewed as a highly preliminary observational analysis of publicly available information and empirical data. This study cannot make any confident assessments on how much money, if any, was disbursed to sanctioned or sanctions-linked entities. It is possible that even though ads were displayed on various websites, none of those ads involved money being exchanged between different accounts.
For example, since Google Search Partners search ads are ‘pay-per-click’, if no one clicked on ads served on specific websites, then presumably those websites would not have had the potential to receive ad revenue. Secondly, clicks on certain search ads may be classified as “invalid” after the fact for various reasons by Google, in which case a publisher may not get paid for those ad clicks that occurred on their website.
Furthermore, it is possible that certain entities received exceptions, waivers, or clarifications from the Department of the Treasury.
This study makes use of empirical data and open-source datasets, but ultimately the methodology represents only a sample of the entire Google search ecosystem.
Conclusion
Google’s online public documentation states that: “In case of violation of these Google policies by one of our Search Network partner sites, it will be removed from the Search Network.”
However, this report observed instances where websites which were on the US Treasury OFAC Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list for years appear to have had Google search ads from the US federal government and Fortune 500 brands served on them. This report also found numerous pornographic, copyright infringing, and Iranian websites hosting search ads. There were also observed instances of search ads served in pop-unders and on pages that automate pre-scripted specific search queries sans any consumer search inputs.
As such, this may raise questions about if and how a sanctioned, piracy, pop-under, or pornographic Search Network partner site which may possibly violate Google policies “will be removed from the Search Network.”
Google’s public online documentation states that: “By creating a campaign for the Search Network, you acknowledge that our policies meet any image and reputation standards you may have for your company.”
However, “Google Ads doesn't provide information detailing the website where your ad was shown on the Search Network”. Google also does not appear to allow independent third party verification pixels or JavaScript tags from vendors such as IAS or DoubleVerify to be deployed on search ads to. As such, it may be difficult for brands and media agencies to confirm whether Google’s policies for search partners are being properly enforced.
Google Search and the Search Partners network do not appear to be MRC accredited for brand safety, though Google is TAG Brand Safety certified. However, Section 4.5.a – “Content Taxonomy” of the TAG Brand Safety Certification Guidelines, states that: “Digital advertisements may not be displayed in association with any content categories defined in Appendix B.”, which include “Adult & Explicit Sexual Content”, “Online Piracy”, “Hate Speech & Acts of Aggression”, “Sensitive Social Issues”. Given the abundance of Fortune 500 brands and US federal government Google search ads observed on hardcore pornographic websites such as pornocriceto.com and pornobaza24.top, it is unclear what the TAG Brand Safety certification for Google entails.
Some brands had search ads served on GSP sites through regular search campaigns, whereas others apparently had their ads served on those sites via Performance Max or Pmax campaigns.
A member of the European Parliament (MEP) Paul Tang commented:
"It's the first time in history, we face the unsettling reality of AI committing crimes. Google's advertising algorithms demand scrutiny. The EU Commission must wield its audit powers to demand transparency and accountability about […] the PMax and other ad bidding algorithms. This report unveils a very inconvenient double standard: by having the Commission's ads displayed on websites of sanctioned Russian and Iranian companies, the Commission may be defying the very sanctions it has proposed. It's not just a potential breach of EU law; it may be an act of funding Russia and Iran. The EU Commission must investigate whether and how much money is changing hands alongside these ad placements."
A senior Fortune 500 brand marketing executive, who was shown an advanced copy of this report, commented:
"It's interesting that the go-to-market materials which so effusively discuss the benefits and power of machine learning and automation neglect to mention that platform reporting has now been so hobbled so as to effectively make it impossible to catch these kinds of issues on our own, forcing us to rely on pre-reads from analytical SWAT teams like Adalytics to ensure we're only reaching consumers on brand-safe environments and not those that will have our CMO being dragged before Congress."
The inclusion of US Treasury OFAC Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list websites in the Google Search Partner network may pose additional considerations for various federal government advertisers or brands in regulated industries. Websites such as those of the Iranian Steel Alloy Company – which was sanctioned by name under US Presidential Executive Order 13871 – may pose unique challenges to brands.
Advertisers such as the FBI, Secret Service, Department of Homeland Security, NSA, US Treasury, US Army, Air Force, Coast Guard, Space Force, National Guard, and healthcare.gov all had search ads observed on various Iranian websites, including the those of the Iranian Steel Alloy Company. Additionally brands such as Google, Apple, Goldman Sachs, and the French bank BNP Paribas - which previously plead guilty to “conspiring to violate […] US economic sanctions”, and paid a fine of $8.9 billion dollars to the US Department of Justice - had their search ads observed on the website of the Iranian Steel Alloy Company and other OFAC SDN sanctioned websites.
While these brands may not have been charged for those specific search ad placements – if no ad clicks occurred or all clicks were deemed to be invalid by Google’s systems – some brands may still be opposed to having their trademarks or brand names featured on certain specific websites due to reputational or compliance considerations.
One brand executive who reviewed an advanced copy of this report commented:
“The adjacency to unsafe, unsuitable, and in some cases illegal sites would be a serious concern for brands, regardless of whether any money has changed hands. Brands do not want to be seen to endorse the wrong type of content by appearing alongside it, because of the reputational damage it may cause. Their ads appearing on objectionable sites is a significant problem in its own right, with or without monetization (i.e. a click). Many web users will not be familiar with the Cost per Click (CPC) model used in Paid Search and therefore may assume that the brand has already paid for that ad placement, even if they do not click on the ad.”
A former head of global media for a major financial services institution told Adalytics:
“While having our ads appear on virtually any of the sites listed in the study would be extremely problematic; financial services ads showing up on websites based in Iran, which is under sanction by the Federal Government would require the firm to alert the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and trigger a process that would likely lead to fines and public scrutiny that would impact everything from reputation to share price to customer demand. No one cares about the fact that it’s a failure of the tech vendor to steward the advertiser’s investments correctly when they see the screenshot of the advertiser’s ad on these unsavory or illegal sites.”
Furthermore, the potential inclusion of hundreds of Iranian domains and OFAC SDN sanctioned entities in the network of websites hosting Google search ads via the Google custom search engine widget may raise concerns about the potential for foreign adversaries to use ad networks to circumvent sanctions regimes despite platform’s best efforts to the contrary.
During this research, numerous examples of entities allegedly based in Iran discussing how to obtain Google AdSense publisher IDs (in contravention of Google’s policies) for revenue sharing were noted. For example, in the screenshot below from a public forum, an individual advises that people in Iran can partner with individuals outside of Iran to obtain Google AdSense accounts, and can then “divide the profit this way”.
Screenshot of a post from the Digital Point forum
In another instance, an individual posted a thread on the Google AdSense Help community forum, titled: “Hello I want to make a adsense account but I live in iran and does it possible to change my adsense”. In this thread, the original poster asks: “What if I make a adsense account in Pakistan and I manage that from iran is it possible?”.
Screenshot of a post from the Google AdSense Help community forum, discussing how to circumvent Google’s policies regarding use of AdSense accounts in the country of Iran
Ruben Schreurs – the Chief Strategy Officer of Ebiquity, a media analysis firm that works with many of the world’s largest advertisers, reviewed an advanced copy of this report and commented:
“In its relentless pursuit of growth, Google seems to have made some highly questionable decisions that put their customers, brand advertisers, at significant risk.
At Ebiquity, we have been advising our clients to avoid spending on the Google Search Partners network for years, as this activity on third party environments cannot be independently reviewed.
Until this Adalytics report, however, we had no direct evidence of specific issues with the GSP network. The revelations in the report validate our concerns with real-life proof of risk exposure that is potentially far more damaging than our original suspicions.
We believe that Google has no valid reason to continue blocking the ability to report on sites that ads were delivered on through the GSP. Additionally, we feel strongly that it must make this reporting available for historical activity, so that brands can assess their exposure to date. Furthermore, Google should vet and strictly police the external inventory partners it works with, in line with their statements made in their own documentation. These kinds of issues are simply unacceptable.”
A global head of media at a Fortune 500 company stated:
“One of the important objectives of agencies are they protect brands from unsafe environment, some of the references in the report showed how agencies themselves are vulnerable to this unsafe setting which questions their ability to protect brands from web pages which are detrimental to brand image. Brand safety as a topic needs a thorough investigation especially given that search safety capabilities are not-available/limited from current custodians of Brand safety providers which should be a huge concern basis safety issues on search demonstrated by this report. Given a huge part of brands investments are on Search, Industry needs to put this topic as one of the priorities for 2024 and push for better products and measurement in the field of Brand Safety.”
Considerations for brands & advertisers
Each brand can assess the brand’s internal reputational risk tolerance and brand safety parameters, including their tolerance for having search ads served adjacent to animal porn, piracy sites, Iranian sites, Breitbart.com, or websites under OFAC SDN sanctions. This may require brands to confer with their legal and compliance departments, particularly if the brand assesses they need to interface with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in the U.S. and its equivalents for brands based elsewhere.
Each brand can quantify how many of their search ad impressions and ad spend was served via the Google Search Partners (GSP) network via Google Ads or Search Ads 360 (SA360).
If a brand decides that the Google Search Partners (GSP) network is not consistent with their brand safety parameters or risk tolerance thresholds, they can choose to opt-out of the GSP network on all search campaigns via Google Ads or Search Ads 360 (SA360).
For brands who utilize Performance Max (pmax) AI-driven ad campaigns, if a brand cannot opt-out of Google Search Partners (GSP), they can evaluate whether or not they wish to continue to utilize Pmax in their ad buys.