Israel, Google and the Internet Advertising War of Deception

Some bold new advertisements are shaking up the status quo...

The first, second and fourth banner ads are generated by Salem-News.com, the rest are from Google.

(SALEM, Ore.) - OK, this advertising game with Israel is getting really weird! It begins with the fact that almost all Websites contain Google Ads.

We put a code in and Google's robots run through the story and assign particular advertisements to stories based on keywords. In this case we're talking about the banner ads which are horizontal, roughly 720 x 120 pixels wide. Our banners are color ads, but Google often uses that same space for three individual line ads.

A few months ago, pro-Israel ads began showing up in stories we were carrying that were critical of Israel's status as a government suspected by United Nations officials of war crimes and serious Human Rights violations.

This seemed improper to us as one story now both criticized these suspected crimes, and contained ads suggesting Israel has a right to defend itself, which is a separate issue.

Veterans Today and other groups that print articles generally unpopular with Israeli officials and supporters, also were troubled by this strange unnatural merging of thoughts critical of Israel, with ads blatantly supportive and dismissive of any wrongdoing.

Of course we could see this was Google's quiet method of keeping us dancing on puppet strings. Google is a pro-Israel organization. YouTube is a pro-Israel organization. We talk about how their interests control Washington D.C. and national media, but they also really are fully integrated online every step of the way.

So, John Allen and the crew at Veterans Today created an ad that closely resembled the pro-Israel banners but, (after Congress awarded Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with almost 30 standing ovations a few weeks ago) began with the words 'Screw America' because that really is the read between the lines message of Congress, in the opinions of millions.

I went ahead and wrote a story about this reverse meaning ad because I wanted those who click the banner to see why such a silly thing is there in the first place. (see: New Slogan Makes Showing
Screw America, I Stand by Israel)

My view is that if Israel insists on clogging our stories with their ads, it's only fitting that we include our version because all is fair in love and war.

So it only takes about two weeks from the time we started this game for something new to begin. As unlikely as it seemed, this is what showed for the first time in a Google ad, theoretically the first time in history that anything purporting to suggest negativity toward Israel ever appeared in that format:

www.itisapartheid.org Learn how Israeli Apartheid Works! Learn how to fight it. www.itisapartheid.org.

Nothing is simple these days, it seems. The first time I clicked the ad, I could have sworn it opened a pro-Israel site, but then I tried it again and was directed to an incredible resource site called, itISapartheid.org. I only have a small question about that, if anyone hits the ad and...
(story continues below ad example below)

sees a pro-Israel ad appear, please write to me immediately (email address below). To clarify, we are talking about the line ad shown in the image above, only in its live form, which will be seen in the grouping of ads below. You might need to refresh the page one or more times to see it. I was unaware of this group, itISapartheid.org prior to now, and while I certainly don't know everything and everyone, I was surprised to not already be familiar with their operation, or to have ever received a news release, etc.

Last night I wrote about a San Francisco TV station, KGO, relating what struck me as a fair and honest story about the Freedom Flotilla II which is enroute to Gaza but presently trapped by naval vessels from Greece. Then our Associate Editor Daniel Johnson in Canada sent me a link to the NY Times that also was a mostly fair review of what was taking place in Athens.

None of the usual rhetoric about the peace activists smuggling weapons to Hamas made the cut in these realistic reports as they did last year when Israel attacked the flotilla killing nine and leaving dozens injured. I reason that there are just too many Americans and other westerners taking part, and it is becoming difficult to view their intentions poorly.

These are important changes to note, however this ad thing makes me wonder if Google is sending Internet users to different Websites when they click the ads.

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Tim King: Salem-News.com Editor and Writer

Tim King is a former U.S. Marine with twenty years of experience on the west coast as a television news producer, photojournalist, reporter and assignment editor. In addition to his role as a war correspondent, this Los Angeles native serves as Salem-News.com's Executive News Editor. Tim spent the winter of 2006/07 covering the war in Afghanistan, and he was in Iraq over the summer of 2008, reporting from the war while embedded with both the U.S. Army and the Marines.

Tim holds awards for reporting, photography, writing and editing, including the Silver Spoke Award by the National Coalition of Motorcyclists (2011), Excellence in Journalism Award by the Oregon Confederation of Motorcycle Clubs (2010), Oregon AP Award for Spot News Photographer of the Year (2004), First-place Electronic Media Award in Spot News, Las Vegas, (1998), Oregon AP Cooperation Award (1991); and several others including the 2005 Red Cross Good Neighborhood Award for reporting. Tim has several years of experience in network affiliate news TV stations, having worked as a reporter and photographer at NBC, ABC and FOX stations in Arizona, Nevada and Oregon. Tim was a member of the National Press Photographer's Association for several years and is a current member of the Orange County Press Club.

Serving the community in very real terms, Salem-News.com is the nation's only truly independent high traffic news Website. As News Editor, Tim among other things, is responsible for publishing the original content of 93 Salem-News.com writers in more that 20 countries. He reminds viewers that emails are easily missed and urges those trying to reach him, to please send a second email if the first goes unanswered. You can write to Tim at this address: newsroom@salem-news.com. Another way to reach Tim is by leaving a comment on any Salem-News.com story, specify 'message to Tim'