Google makes millions from greenwashing ads, report says

New research from the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), a nonprofit disrupting online hate and misinformation, demonstrates how Google has enabled greenwashing at the hands of Big Oil — and profited from this.

The CCDH, focusing exclusively on U.S.-based users, found that major oil and gas companies including BP, Shell, and ExxonMobil have bought ads on Google searches in response to questions like "eco-friendly companies", "net zero" and "how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions?" These ads redirect to companies and their greenwashing content.

Greenwashing is the increasingly popular PR tactic "where a company uses advertising and public messaging to appear more climate friendly and environmentally sustainable than it really is. It’s also a technique used by certain companies to distract consumers from the fact that their business model and activities actually do a lot of environmental harm and damage," according to international environmental law charity ClientEarth, whose definition the report uses. This strategy has risen in recent years, as public pressure and discourse has mounted on companies that have historically harmed the environment through business practices.

The report examined the spendings of five large oil and gas companies: ExxonMobil, BP, Chevron, Shell, and Saudi Aramco. The CCDH used data analytics tool Semrush, compiling a dataset of over 30,000 Google Search ads placed on 61,216 separate search queries by oil companies between Sept. 1, 2020 and Aug. 31, 2022. The organisation also looked into how much money was spent on each of these ads.

In total, Big Oil spent $23.7 million on Google Search ads over the past two years. Half of that — $10.9 million — was spent exclusively on greenwashing. These ads were viewed over 58 million times and clicked over 1.8 million times.

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Notably, users who were searching for information on greenhouse gases, renewables, and carbon offsets were targeted. All five of the companies in question advertised under searches concerning "eco friendly companies" or variations on the term "eco friendly", such as "eco friendly stock companies".

The CCDH outlines that BP spent over $5.3 million on ads in response to search queries regarding methane, renewable energy, and climate change; ExxonMobil spent nearly $4 million, similarly, on directing Google users to ads on carbon capture, greenhouse gasses, and net zero.

The trend is consistent with the remaining companies: Shell spent $1.2 million on users seeking information on net zero companies and solar energy. According to the report, Shell's spending peaked in December 2020, the same month Dutch climate activists launched a legal case against the company; in 2021, a landmark court case ruled that by 2030, the oil company must cut its CO2 emissions by 45 percent compared to its levels in 2019.

Meanwhile, Saudi Aramco spent $317,710 on greenwashing ads regarding renewable energy and carbon capture. Chevron spent $112,854 on like-minded advertising.

The result of this spending is evident in Google searches for "eco-friendly companies", for instance, which would provide an ad for one of the Big Oil companies sitting at the top of Google search rankings.

Last year, Google announced that it would ban ads spreading climate misinformation. Google's ads team said they would "prohibit ads for, and monetization of, content that contradicts well-established scientific consensus around the existence and causes of climate change".

"Google has repeatedly promised to stop profiting from climate change disinformation," says Imran Ahmed, CEO of the CCDH. "Our latest research shows that Google has broken this promise, and continues to profit by helping some of the world’s worst polluters to distort their role in causing the climate crisis."

Seeing as though Google's ad business generated $147 billion last year, is $23.7 million of greenwashing ads even worth it for the company's bottom line.

In a statement to Mashable, Google said, "Last year, we launched a new, industry-leading policy that explicitly prohibits ads promoting false claims about the existence and causes of climate change. In creating this policy, we worked with and consulted a range of experts and authoritative sources on the topic of climate science. When we find content that crosses the line from policy debate or a discussion of green initiatives to promoting outright climate change denial, we remove those ads from serving".

Google also said that it has "been clear" that it will "continue to allow ads and monetization on other climate-related topics, including public debates on climate policy, the varying impacts of climate change, new research and more".

However, it has "robust ad policies that expressly prohibit ads/advertisers from using misrepresentation"; in other words, it would prohibit advertisers "fraudulently claiming" that their products or services enforce green practices or policies. The company says that in 2021, it removed over 3.4 billion ads, including more than 38 million that violated their misrepresentation policy.

Google says it has reviewed the ads shared in the CCDH report.

"They do not violate our policies."