NEWS20 November 2019
UK – Google has misreported spending on political advertising in the run up to the UK’s general election, the Guardian has reported.
Google’s weekly transparency reports contain updates on how much money has been spent by political parties and other organisations on advertising.
A transparency report published this week claimed the Labour Party had spent £50 on adverts during the week the general election was called, and nothing the week after. However, according to figures disclosed by Google in a previous report seen by the Guardian, Labour spent £63,900 during that fortnight.
There was also a similar but smaller discrepancy in the reporting of spend for the Conservatives.
The Guardian reported Google admitted that the most recent report was incorrect when the paper highlighted the discrepancy.
A Google spokesperson said: “We are looking into this issue. If we find any ads that were mistakenly underreported, we will add them into our transparency report as soon as possible.”