We made it to Friday, and we saved the biggest fish for last — but first some great news:
Teads has dropped Townhall from its inventory! They saw our emails, and Townhall’s seller account is no longer listed there. Thank you for using your voice to defund climate disinformation!
Today we’re going to keep pushing and ask Google why they’re helping fund Townhall.com, a top climate change disinformation outlet. Let’s ask them to review these seller accounts according to their own supply policies. (Read more about the overall effort in this week’s BRANDED.)
Today’s action target: Google
Google flatly says content that “contradicts authoritative scientific consensus on climate change” isn’t eligible to be monetized through them. Sounds like a great policy!
It’s a real shame that, based on what we’ve observed, they’re ignoring it. If climate denialism can’t be monetized, why is Google sending cash to Townhall.com? Maybe they’ll tell us.
—
We’re trying something new this time: Click here to open an email with everything pre-filled, just add your name to the bottom. Let us know if it works for you — unfortunately, it won’t work for everyone.
If it didn’t work, or you’d like to do it manually, copy and paste the below to their respective fields:
TO:
[email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
SUBJECT:
Do you know Google is funding climate disinformation?
BODY:
Hello,
I’m reaching out to see if Google plans to continue placing ads on Townhall.com, despite the site running flagrantly afoul of your company’s policies.
In 2021, your company announced it would ban publishers that spreading climate change disinformation from its ad products. And your publisher policy flatly says content that “contradicts authoritative scientific consensus on climate change” isn’t eligible to be monetized through them. Sounds like a great policy!
Unfortunately, you’re still sending money to Townhall, a publisher with 46 columnists who are listed in climate watchdog DeSmog’s disinformation database.
Maybe you didn’t know that a Center for Countering Digital Hate report found Townhall is in the top tier among 10 fringe publishers responsible for nearly 70% of Facebook user interactions with denying climate change.
Perhaps that explains why cursory online research shows you are connecting Townhall.com to the advertising supply chain, enabling the spread of its climate disinformation. And Townhall Media isn’t just one site, it’s part of a sprawling networking of hate speech (which your company’s policies clearly oppose) and disinformation websites, including:
- Bearing Arms
- Hot Air
- Instapundit
- PJ Media
- RedState
- Twitchy
If you plan to continue funding climate disinformation, you can ignore this email. But if you’d rather NOT fund it, consider dropping Townhall’s seller IDs, pub-3522377144365482 and pub-9450655209824617.
Thank you,
[Your Name]
Please let us know if you hear back from them! They will be reading your emails and figuring out what the hell to do about all this.