'Concerning': Why Google 'paused and flagged' Kentucky AG’s public awareness campaign

23 October 2023

Google recently determined that public service announcements (PSAs) about human trafficking launched by Kentucky attorney general and 2024 Republican gubernatorial Daniel Cameron's campaign were actually political ads, The Daily Beast exclusively reports.

According to the report, "Less than a month after the primary, Cameron's office was notified" via email "that the ads had been 'paused and flagged' after Google ruled that it was political advertising."

The GOP candidate's office was able to use taxpayer dollars for the ads — which included appearances from Cameron himself —because they were originally said to be PSAs, the Beast notes.

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The news outlet reports an email from the marketing firm Red 7 E — which received $107,425 to support the campaign — sent an email in June saying, "IMPORTANT NOTE: On YouTube, we were just notified that the ads that had been running were flagged for being considered political advertising mid-campaign, due to the fact that the Attorney General is in the video assets. Please reply to this email to let us know if we are approved to proceed with this recommendation and we can make the necessary adjustments ASAP."

The Beast reports:

To be clear, the video was not the work of Cameron's political campaign. Instead, it was part of a public outreach program conducted by the commonwealth's office of attorney general (OAG). And the costs weren't underwritten by voluntary donors, but by a $175,000 taxpayer-backed federal grant that the OAG received from the Department of Justice in January.

Kentucky political lawyer Anna Whites — a Democrat — told the news outlet the ads were "concerning," and that the attorney general's office likely "violated state ethics rules."

She said, "The focus of the advertisement being on the AG looks like he was using the advertising and grant budget intended to protect victims to instead advance his own personal goals and for his own personal benefit. This is an ethical concern and one that I believe the Ethics Commission should review."

Whites emphasized, "9 KAR 1:025 Section 2 deals with conflicts of interest for public servants," while "Kentucky law also holds that public servants may not 'use public office to obtain private benefits,' according to the Beast.

The Daily Beast's full report is available at this link (subscription required).

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