Google Uncovered Russia-Backed Ads on YouTube, Gmail

[Megalith]

Google has discovered Russian operatives spent tens of thousands of dollars on ads on its YouTube, Gmail, and Google Search products in an effort to meddle in the 2016 US presidential election: the ads do not appear to be from the same Kremlin-affiliated entity that bought ads on Facebook, but it may indicate a broader Russian online disinformation effort, according to the source, who was not authorized to discuss details of the confidential investigation by Alphabet Inc’s Google.

Microsoft said separately that it was looking at whether Russians bought US election ads on its Bing search engine or other Microsoft-owned products and platforms. A spokeswoman for the company declined to comment further. Both Twitter and Facebook recently detected and disclosed that suspected Russian operatives, working for a content farm known as the Internet Research Agency in St. Petersburg, Russia, used their platforms to purchase ads and post content that was politically divisive in a bid to influence Americans before and after the November 2016 presidential election.

 

[gunbust3r]

Next stunning discovery: Russia may have spent "tens of thousands" on campaign yard signs.

Obviously that was the one cool hack that turned the tide in TWO BILLION+ dollars Hillary and Trump dished out on the campaign.

 

[Drakensoul]

Next stunning discovery: Russia may have spent "tens of thousands" on campaign yard signs.

Obviously that was the one cool hack that turned the tide in TWO BILLION+ dollars Hillary and Trump dished out on the campaign.

No intellectual curiosity to know what the extent of it was?

I.e.: If a few of the known Russian government-controlled groups on Facebook had their (re: Russia's) politically targetted ads shared and liked over 300 million times, and we still don't even know how many groups or accounts there were....

Rather than say "Hmm, I'd like more information to be able to conceptualize what the actual effect might have been," your answer, before you even have any data, is fake news?

I mean the election is over, Hillary isn't going to steal the race from you. What do you have to lose by wondering what the actual facts are?

What level of external agenda reach/influence is concerning to you? Or none of it matters at all? OmniTech is your friend? Are we still all stuck on "BUT TRUMP AND HILLARY!!!"? Is there not a point where one moves past whatever one's emotions were with regard to the now-defunct presidential election and looks forward instead?

Because whatever the effect was, it can and will be again unless there's an active force to change it.

I'm not even a political or politically-minded person and I don't use Facebook, but I get it. Social media is the thing now. Hundreds of millions of people log in every day and a good portion of them get most of their news from it. I get how that could be useful to someone wanting to push even a small number of people one way or another.... you don't?

Hundreds of millions of views... quite a yard sign.

 

[sirsad]

It is so sad that so many are fixated on whether Russia influenced the election and not how easy it is to influence the election.

 

[GlowingGhoul]

No intellectual curiosity to know what the extent of it was?


Because whatever the effect was, it can and will be again unless there's an active force to change it.

I'm not even a political or politically-minded person and I don't use Facebook, but I get it. Social media is the thing now. Hundreds of millions of people log in every day and a good portion of them get most of their news from it. I get how that could be useful to someone wanting to push even a small number of people one way or another.... you don't?

Hundreds of millions of views... quite a yard sign.

Intellectual curiosity? You mean about why Facebook and Google have simultaneously 'discovered' that our election was 'stolen' through the use of a handful of troll farm ads that were being run long before and after the election? More like a call from the DNC to help provide some oxygen to a baseless story intended to cripple the presidency via the 'seriousness of the allegation'.

Yep, Facebook sure got quite loud with their mea culpa's, apologies, and daily press releases about how they allowed themselves to be a tool of 'election interference'.

Copius, repeated apologies, and daily reminders put out by their PR department about how they messed up. Yep, sounds like standard corporate behavior when they have embarrassing information, right?

Besides, who needs curiosity or thought. The Reuters article refers to these mystery ads not as 'possible' attempts to 'steal' the election, but conclusively states they were. Funny, talking about an unproven allegation as a certainty seems to be a common thread with Reuters an the AP.

 

[jardows]

So Russians aren't supposed to buy ads on YouTube? From what I am reading, it was no secret that they were Russian when they purchased the ads, so why is it so important now?

 

[Drakensoul]

Intellectual curiosity? You mean about why Facebook and Google have simultaneously 'discovered' that our election was 'stolen' through the use of a handful of troll farm ads that were being run long before and after the election? More like a call from the DNC to help provide some oxygen to a baseless story intended to cripple the presidency via the 'seriousness of the allegation'.

Yep, Facebook sure got quite loud with their mea culpa's, apologies, and daily press releases about how they allowed themselves to be a tool of 'election interference'.

Copius, repeated apologies, and daily reminders put out by their PR department about how they messed up. Yep, sounds like standard corporate behavior when they have embarrassing information, right?

Besides, who needs curiosity or thought. The Reuters article refers to these mystery ads not as 'possible' attempts to 'steal' the election, but conclusively states they were. Funny, talking about an unproven allegation as a certainty seems to be a common thread with Reuters an the AP.

You must have replied to the wrong person.

I'm not interested in Facebook or Google or even Russian motives. I think I can figure that out on the back-end.

I am interested in how many Russian or other government-backed accounts on social media sites pretended to be American and posted political-leaning ads, and how many people viewed those ads.

I'll decide for myself whether or not I think that's relevant and what the reach might have been.

I take it you have no such interest in a facts-based look at what is obviously, like everything on every side of every issue, over-politicized for X person to make money?

Okay... I guess it's your right. As far as whether or not this is "crippling the presidency," well I guess that's another judgment call.

 

[Mugato]

It is so sad that so many are fixated on whether Russia influenced the election and not how easy it is to influence the election.

I watched a BBC documentary around 2 years ago about this hacker in (I think Bolivia) central america who was paid by political elites to influence Presidential elections. This was right at the advent of Twitter and Facebook. The guy came out because he went to jail and took the fall. They masked his face and voice, all that jazz but I'm sure you could figure out who he was. He would build bots that drove conversations in a certain direction, to get people to vote a certain way. He could destroy a candidate before they even started and was doing it in real time on the show. It was pretty amazing. None of our super intelligent politicians watched that show I'm sure.

Anyway, it happens, we all know it, I don't know why this was such a huge surprise.

 

[sirsad]

Well I didn't read the article, so I'm not sure what you're so angry at but... again.. rather than wonder what the reality is and judge for yourself... we're back to "Hillary!! TRUMP!! HILLARY!!! TRUMP!!"

Okay.

Original question stands: No intellectual curiosity to know the actual data re: how many Russian government-controlled accounts posing as something else posted how many ads seen and shared by how many people? No interest in running it through your own cognitive array to determine what you think the impact might have been? Fake news before you have any facts? Defensiveness and stone-wall against any facts?

No curiosity at whether or not this has been the case before? At what levels? Why the increase? What about the future?

Just "NO!!! FAKE NEWS!!!!"?

Okay. I guess that's your right.

Because it is worrying about a minor point rather than the major issue? You know, the one where the media, specifically facebook, favors positive democrat news and negative republican news while burying negative democrat news and positive republican news?

 

[Drakensoul]

Because it is worrying about a minor point rather than the major issue? You know, the one where the media, specifically facebook, favors positive democrat news and negative republican news while burying negative democrat news and positive republican news?

I'm not sure what the major issue is, nor who decided what is and isn't a major issue... I just see opinion in your post. I think that's the point -- post something fact based and I'll decide what is or isn't a major issue and to what extent.

Until then I just shrug and say "Maybe."

Again I don't see the problem in wanting the actual facts and data. To me the problem is people screaming fake news and ignoring everything they don't want to hear.

 

[sirsad]

I'm not sure what the major issue is, nor who decided what is and isn't a major issue... I just see opinion in your post. I think that's the point -- post something fact based and I'll decide what is or isn't a major issue and to what extent.

Until then I just shrug and say "Maybe."

Again I don't see the problem in wanting the actual facts and data. To me the problem is people screaming fake news and ignoring everything they don't want to hear.

As I said above:

It is so sad that so many are fixated on whether Russia influenced the election and not how easy it is to influence the election.

To go further, hiring Comney's buddy to find "facts" ensures a democrat spin to these "facts".

 

[DocFaustus]

You're getting played. Russia excels at riling up weak minded and impressionable Texans

At this point this shouldn't be a right or left sided story. We should be trying to understand what tactics are being used and how easy it is to manipulate certain groups

 

[El_Capitan]

So, they spent hundreds of thousands of dollars, or even millions, when they knew they could just hacked the elections for Trump? There's no logic to that. Hacking costs nothing, and Russia didn't hack the elections.

 

[Madoc]

No intellectual curiosity to know what the extent of it was?

No. I don't care because I don't think people are mindless boxes that merely regurgitate whatever information they've been given. Even if they are, they're still responsible for their own vote. Unless it is proven to me that Russia interfered with the actual election, this is just a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing.

 

[nysmo]

Next stunning discovery: Russia may have spent "tens of thousands" on campaign yard signs.

Obviously that was the one cool hack that turned the tide in TWO BILLION+ dollars Hillary and Trump dished out on the campaign.

The 2 billion in ad dollars was actually a waste, since most idiots get their news from facebook/youtube now. I mean MSM cant be trusted right? Gotta listen to Aunt Sally and her meme reposts about multiple Vegas shooters and muzzle flashes on the 8th floor, cuz people were really there! THEY KNOW!