In July, he ran a series of ads pegged to election-specific search terms, targeting people who might be using Google to figure out whom to vote for.
This left a question in his mind: What if you targeted an ad at people who search for a specific candidate, but avoid mentioning that candidates name in the actual ad?
Most of the time, he used well-known news sites, adding a layer of credibility.
The reason: An ad that doesnt mention Trump by name can still count as a Trump election ad, or an anti-Trump election ad, if it links to an article about him. In response, Google says it plans to increase the amount of human review that goes into evaluating landing pages for ads that potentially fall under the election policy.
The advertiser can basically bring you wherever you want, with no check, when the entity youre sending the traffic to did not write the ad, he said.
But Google doesnt intend to close the gap entirely: Search terms are still not considered part of an ad, for the purposes of election enforcement.
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Original article