Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/214101 
Year of Publication: 
2019
Citation: 
[Journal:] Internet Policy Review [ISSN:] 2197-6775 [Volume:] 8 [Issue:] 4 [Publisher:] Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society [Place:] Berlin [Year:] 2019 [Pages:] 1-24
Publisher: 
Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society, Berlin
Abstract: 
Previous research has described how highly personalised paid advertising on social media platforms can be used to influence voter preferences and undermine the integrity of elections. However, less work has examined how search engine optimisation (SEO) strategies are used to target audiences with disinformation or political propaganda. This paper looks at 29 junk news domains and their SEO keyword strategies between January 2016 and March 2019. I find that SEO — rather than paid advertising — is the most important strategy for generating discoverability via Google Search. Following public concern over the spread of disinformation online, Google's algorithmic changes had a significant impact on junk news discoverability. The findings of this research have implications for policymaking, as regulators think through legal remedies to combat the spread of disinformation online.
Subjects: 
Disinformation
Junk news
Computational propaganda
Search engine optimisation
Digital advertising
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Creative Commons License: 
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Document Type: 
Article

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