Google Bans Ads From Pregnancy Centers After Lobbying From “Pro-Choice” NARAL

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Apr 28, 2014   |   4:53PM   |   Washington, DC

Google has banned ads from pro-life pregnancy centers that offer women and their unborn children abortion alternatives. The decision came after extensive lobbying from a national “pro-choice” group, NARAL, that appears to favor just one choice, abortion.

googleUpset that pregnancy centers were allowed to bid on the keyword “abortion clinics,” along with facilities that kill unborn children in abortions, NARAL launched a national campaign to complain to Google. Now, the national search engine company has banned the ads.

According to NARAL, people using Google to search for “abortion clinics” got ads advertising the crisis pregnancy centers about 79 percent of the time — which cuts into the profit margins of abortion clinics.

From the Washington Post:

Google policy states that advertisements must be “factually supportable,” as well as truthful and accurate. Advertisers who do not comply with Google policies may see their ads rejected or their domains disabled or accounts suspended.

Google said in a statement that it had applied its ad policy standards in this case and followed normal company procedures.

“We’re constantly reviewing ads to ensure they comply with our AdWords policies, which include strict guidelines related to ad relevance, clarity, and accuracy,” the company said in a statement.  “If we find violations, we’ll take the appropriate actions — including account disablings and blacklists — as quickly as possible.”

NARAL will begin appealing to other search engines to examine ads for crisis pregnancy centers.

NARAL bragged about its victory in an email to supporters today.

Google’s leadership in removing the majority of these ads is a victory for truth in advertising. Countless women will be spared lies and shaming tactics intended to stop them from making their own decisions based on real medical advice.

It won’t be long before CPCs and their supporters go after Google for making this change because deceptive ads are one of the primary ways they lure women into their doors. That’s why we’re organizing a thank-you letter to show Google executives they did the right thing and encourage them to stand strong against pressure from our opponents.

ACTION: Contact Google to complain at: https://www.google.com/intl/en/contact/ or on Twitter @Google