Weaponizing Ads: How Governments Use Google Ads and Facebook Ads to Wage Propaganda Wars Eslam Elsewedy 20 min read · 19 hours ago 19 hours ago -- Listen Share
In late 2024, the head of the UN’s Gaza aid agency made a disturbing discovery: when people searched for his organization on Google, the top result wasn’t the agency’s own site — it was a paid ad placed by the Israeli government. The ad mimicked a UN website but actually linked to an Israeli government page accusing the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) of supporting terroists (wired.com). “The spread of misinformation & disinformation continues to be used as a weapon in the war in Gaza,” UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini warned, calling for investigations and stricter regulation of online propaganda (aljazeera.com). His alarm highlights a troubling new reality: digital advertising platforms have become battlefields for influence, where governments and political groups pay to sway public opinion in wars and crises.
Traditional propaganda , think radio broadcasts, posters, state TV, has now gone high-tech. Platforms like Google Ads and Facebook (Meta) Ads allow paries to target specific audiences with tailored messages at massive scale. In theory, these companies have policies against hate speech or blatant lies. In practice, recent case studies show that sophisticated misinformation campaigns can exploit loopholes and lax enforcement, reaching millions of people with government-funded narratives. From the Israel–Palestine conflict to Russian and domestic political meddling, paid ads are being weaponized to promote war efforts, demonize opponents, and even undermine institutions like the UN. This article examines how it’s happening, why the platforms permit it, and what ethical and policy questions arise.
Digital Propaganda via Paid Ads: A New Front in Information Warfare
Paid advertising on Google and Facebook has become a potent tool for political persuasion or manipulation. Unlike organic social media posts (which rely on shares or algorithms), ads can guarantee visibility: if you pay, you reach your target. And the targeting can be extremely granular. Google Ads lets advertisers bid on search keywords or place banner/video ads on websites and YouTube, often filtered by geography or audience interests. Facebook/Meta’s ad system enables micro-targeting by demographics, location, and user interests, while requiring a “paid for by” disclaimer on political ads for transparency. In theory, this gives legitimate political campaigns a way to reach supporters , but it equally gives propagandists a direct channel to the eyeballs of a chosen populace.
Researchers note that this capacity can be abused by partisan or state actors to “manipulate or distract citizens with misinformation and government propaganda,” posing serious challenges to democracy (academic.oup.com). A notorious early example was Russia’s Internet Research Agency, which in 2016 created hundreds of fake Facebook accounts and purchased at least $100,000 worth of divisive ads to influence the U.S. election (abcnews.go.com). Many of those ads didn’t mention candidates directly; instead they amplified polarizing messages on issues like immigration and race to inflame social tensions. At the time, Facebook admitted that most of these propaganda ads “did not violate any company policies or laws,” underscoring how unprepared the platform’s rules were (abcnews.go.com). The incident sparked global awareness that paid media ads could be used as a propaganda weapon , and led to new transparency measures like Facebook’s Ads Library.
Yet, increased transparency hasn’t prevented the tactic from evolving. Recent conflicts show governments openly turning to ad campaigns as part of their information warfare strategy. Paid ads can be launched rapidly, scaled globally, and tailored to undermine an opponent or shape public perception of a war. Crucially, they also allow a state to influence foreign publics, beyond its own borders, often skirting the line of platform policies and international norms. The sections below explore a timely case study and the broader implications.
Case Study: Israel’s Paid Propaganda Campaign in the Gaza War
One of the clearest illustrations of war propaganda via paid ads is the Israeli government’s online advertising blitz during the 2023–2025 Gaza war. Israel has long engaged in hasbara (Hebrew for “explanation”), a term for state public relations efforts or propaganda (smex.org). But since the war in Gaza, Israel’s use of digital ads has intensified to unprecedented levels (smex.org).
Targeting the UN: Google Ads to Discredit Humanitarians
... continue reading