In all likelihood, Gabbard and her campaign managers are perfectly aware that:
1. Google's automatic account suspension systems were doing exactly what they would do for any other account.
2. There was no intentional discrimination/meddling.
A sudden spike of search traffic corresponding with a sudden influx of advertising spending is likely to trigger red flags for the system. 6 hours of downtime for these google ads did damage her campaign, but Gabbard, or anybody, is not entitled to 100% uptime for a service provided by a corporation, except to the degree that it violates a contract/ TOS.
“Google’s discriminatory actions against my campaign are reflective of how dangerous their complete dominance over internet search is, and how the increasing dominance of big tech companies over our public discourse threatens our core American values,” Gabbard said in a statement. “This is a threat to free speech, fair elections and to our democracy, and I intend to fight back on behalf of all Americans.”
Her statement quoted above make me like her less, and I don't feel like I'm a particularly pro-google guy.
To plays devils advocate, google may be a private company, but it has a sheer dominance in a how information is disseminated, giving it a influential role in how people formulate there beliefs and opinions.
And even though currently, as a private company, Google can argue that they don't have to allow anyone on there system, because of how much influence they have on the flow of information, not having proper or fair access to there platform is equivalent to a community not being giving access to vital utilities or education. There is no equivalent or remotely second best option to google.
The event regardless is an issue in both Googles system and for Gabbards campaign.
The allegation here is of intentionally suppressing her campaign. Google acts behind a veil of secrecy, and without access to internals, the best you have to work with is their word. And I DO NOT trust the robo-responses from giant corporations
She has won numerous elections over a decade, and her campaign is likely adept at managing Google ad accounts. If they suspect malice, they cannot be discounted for lack of experience or understanding of what they are dealing with. It's best to wait till this case enters the discovery phase before concluding anything.
I am not an american and know none of the players. However I do use google ads. What I see, is that in two independent google accounts, running campaigns on the same search terms and keyword triggers, there are times I can show my two accounts "compete" for the same mindshare.
In any normal endeavour this is just how it works, but in politics, the consequences of a differential treatment of two candidates in the same space is not good for democracy.
I don't know who I support, but a framework which accepts money for placement and then determines an asymmetric bias in placement irrespective of bid price, and then perturbs visibility of political ads, is going to be mis-understood and mis-represented as systemic bias by somebody. Its human nature to assume its human centric behaviour, not a heuristic breakdown. Hanlon's razor isn't always well applied.
1. Google's automatic account suspension systems were doing exactly what they would do for any other account.
2. There was no intentional discrimination/meddling.
A sudden spike of search traffic corresponding with a sudden influx of advertising spending is likely to trigger red flags for the system. 6 hours of downtime for these google ads did damage her campaign, but Gabbard, or anybody, is not entitled to 100% uptime for a service provided by a corporation, except to the degree that it violates a contract/ TOS.
“Google’s discriminatory actions against my campaign are reflective of how dangerous their complete dominance over internet search is, and how the increasing dominance of big tech companies over our public discourse threatens our core American values,” Gabbard said in a statement. “This is a threat to free speech, fair elections and to our democracy, and I intend to fight back on behalf of all Americans.”
Her statement quoted above make me like her less, and I don't feel like I'm a particularly pro-google guy.