The search engine, Google, sees roughly 5.8 billion searches per day. Those using Google to search are exposed to advertisements paid to the search engine by companies and businesses. According to Forbes, 2021’s third quarter brought in 7.9 billion for Google in advertising revenue alone.
Through Google’s algorithm, keywords in searches bring up advertisements that were created to pick up on said keywords in order to be displayed to viewers. Typically, these advertisements are designed to attract a specific client or buyer, depending on their browsing and search history.
However, recently, Google has been a target of criticism due to claims that the search engine has disproportionately supported large oil companies and their advertisements for inappropriate searches. Keywords, including ‘climate change’, ‘net zero’, and other environmental SEO (search engine optimized) topics seem to display advertisements from some of the largest companies responsible for emissions and climate change.
It has been discovered that 1-in-5 advertisements displayed in a Google search for 78 of the most relevant environmental terms were given to top oil-producing companies. This includes companies like Shell, ExxonMobil, and Aramco, who are large spenders for Google’s advertising services. Companies that are not large oil producers, but have been found to invest heavily in oil, including Goldman Sachs and McKinsey, were also found to have advertisements relating to environmental terms.
This comes as a concern to researchers, as they claim this digital advertising strategy perpetuates greenwashing: the process of conveying a false impression or providing misleading information about how a company’s products are more environmentally sound than they truly are. Viewers exposed to these ads via their environmental searches will come to find ads from significant polluters and oil exporters reporting their “net zero” goals and dedications to combat climate change.
For many, this is an ironic and even harmful use of advertising. Jake Carbone, a senior data analyst at InfluenceMap, said, “Google is letting groups with a vested interest in the continued use of fossil fuels pay to influence the resources people receive when they are trying to educate themselves.”
Oil majors have spent over $1bn on climate lobbying and misleading branding since the #ParisAgreement.
Executive Director of @InfluenceMap has a message for investors on @IanKingSky.#BigOilLobby pic.twitter.com/7Lto2RdyMt
— InfluenceMap (@InfluenceMap) March 22, 2019
While companies, like Shell, state they have goals to become net zero themselves by 2050, they have never stated they will slow, nor discontinue the production of oil. Meaning their visibility on Google searches for environmental concerns appears as clearly financial, and not due to positive environmental actions or advocacy at this time.
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