On March 16, 2018, CfA released a new report revealing how Google has paid tens of millions of euros to European academic institutions over the past decade to develop an influential network of friendly European academics who write research papers supporting the tech giant’s business interests.
On October 30, 2017, Campaign for Accountability released a report revealing Google continues to place ads on websites that promote false information despite promises to alter its practices. CfA analyzed a sample of 1,255 news publishers and found that Google continues to place ads on hyper-partisan and misleading websites, resulting in millions of dollars in revenue for the company.
"Similarly, Google doesn’t have to ask the researchers whom it funds to write about public policy to turn in favourable articles. But it has funded, directly or indirectly, 329 such papers since 2005, according to the US-based Campaign for Accountability. More than a quarter of those funded directly by Google didn’t disclose the source of their money, according to the report."
Officially, the online search giant Google’s mission is to “organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” According to two new reports—one from the Wall Street Journal and one from the nonprofit, nonpartisan Campaign for Accountability’s Google Transparency Project, the company doesn’t just organize. When Google wishes it had information that’d maybe help further its policy and regulatory goals, it just pays academics under the table to gin it up.
Company pays stipends of $5,000 to $400,000 for research supporting business practices that face regulatory scrutiny; a ‘wish list’ of topics.
Campaign for Accountability released a new report, Google Academics Inc., revealing Google’s extensive financial support for academics and policy experts. CfA identified 329 research papers published between 2005 and 2017 on public policy matters of interest to Google that were in some way funded by the company.
Statement from CfA Executive Director Daniel Stevens regarding Google's support for academia
On November 28, 2016, CfA released a new report detailing Google's support for Hillary Clinton. Google executives and employees bet heavily on a Clinton victory, hoping to extend the company’s influence on the Obama White House.