From Alphabet’s data, the New Knowledge report concluded: “Alphabet’s subsidiaries YouTube, G+, Gmail, and Google Voice were each leveraged to support the creation and validation of false personas.”
Using Google’s ad platform, AdWords, the IRA was able to disseminate hundreds of ads and promote propaganda websites, the New Knowledge report found. The IRA used ads to bill its various websites as “independent news,” with more than 10 ads each given to the domains OnePoliticalPlaza, Blackmattersus, and Russia-direct.org. The most promoted site was the now-dormant think tank Global Intelligence Analytics, with 199 ads.
A number of IRA-linked email addresses, stemming from Gmail, were used to create accounts across social media. Some of these email accounts also had affiliated Google+ pages, New Knowledge says. Additionally, some Russian propaganda Twitter bots had affiliated Google Voice accounts, according to the report.
Google declined to comment to Business Insider, but did direct us to a post from October 2017 that acknowledged the company had found “some evidence of efforts to misuse our platforms.”
In its findings, Google revealed IRA-linked accounts has spent $4,700 on ads ahead of the 2016 political election. The company also said the IRA used Gmail, Google+, AdSense and Ad Exchange, and Search & News.