Russians Bought Google Ads To Swing Election: Report

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA — Google, which is still deciding whether to join Facebook and Twitter in testifying before Congress next month about Russian election meddling, discovered that Russian operatives did, in fact, buy tens of thousands of dollars in ads across the Silicon Valley titan's products, including Google search, YouTube and Gmail, The Washington Post reported.

The revelations came to light after Google siphoned off a trove of data from Twitter, the report said citing anonymous sources familiar with the investigation. Twitter gives away a small amount of historical tweets for free, but developers can pay to access all of the data dating to 2006, the report said.

"Google downloaded the data from Twitter and was able to link Russian Twitter accounts to other accounts that had used Google’s services to buy ads," the report said. This was apparently done without Twitter's "explicit cooperation," the report said. (For more information on Russian election meddling and other White House stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

Also See: Facebook Says Around 10 Million In The US Saw Russia-Linked Ads

Google's investigation remains ongoing, the people said.

In a statement, Google said it has a "set of strict ads policies including limits on political ad targeting and prohibitions on targeting based on race and religion."

"We are taking a deeper look to investigate attempts to abuse our systems, working with researchers and other companies, and will provide assistance to ongoing inquiries," the statement continued.

Facebook recently shared about 3,000 Russian-backed ads with Congress.

U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that Russian President Vladimir Putin directed a disinformation campaign aimed at helping Donald Trump win the presidential election.

Photo credit: Matt Rourke/Associated Press