Google Ads
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Google Ads |
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| Industry | Digital advertising; ad technology |
| Country | United States |
| Founded | 2000 |
| Headquarters | Mountain View, California, United States |
| Parent company | |
| Status | Active |
| Verification |
Verified |
Overview
Google Ads is the global digital advertising platform operated by Google, a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc. It provides search, display, video, and programmatic advertising services across Google-owned properties and millions of third-party websites and apps. Public reporting and advocacy documentation show that Google Ads has been a core distribution mechanism for Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recruitment advertising, including campaigns for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), active through 2025. These ads have appeared across Google Search, YouTube, mobile apps, and the Google Display Network. [1]
Boycott
Google Ads is listed for boycott due to its central role in enabling and amplifying ICE recruitment campaigns through highly targeted digital advertising infrastructure.
Reporting in 2025 documented DHS spending millions of dollars on digital recruitment advertising, with Google Ads identified as one of the primary tools used to target specific demographics, geographic regions, and user interests for ICE recruitment messaging. These campaigns were designed to increase staffing for enforcement and investigative roles and relied on Google’s data-driven ad targeting capabilities. [2]
Media coverage and advocacy monitoring confirmed that ICE recruitment ads delivered via Google Ads appeared not only on Google-owned platforms such as YouTube, but also across third-party websites and applications participating in Google’s ad network, expanding the reach of enforcement recruitment beyond individual platforms. This scale prompted criticism from immigrant-rights organizations, digital-rights groups, and users who argued that Google Ads functions as core infrastructure for normalizing and sustaining immigration enforcement. [3]
Google has stated that government agencies are permitted to run recruitment advertising under its advertising policies, provided the ads comply with applicable laws and platform rules. Advocacy organizations counter that policy compliance does not negate the material role Google Ads plays in enabling ICE staffing, surveillance, detention, and deportation operations, and argue that this infrastructure support warrants inclusion in organized boycott campaigns. [1]
Background
ICE increasingly relies on sophisticated digital advertising tools to sustain recruitment pipelines for agents, analysts, and enforcement staff. Google Ads’ dominance in search, video, and programmatic advertising gives it outsized influence over who sees recruitment messaging and at what scale. ICE List documents Google Ads as a distinct boycott entity due to its function as enabling infrastructure for ICE recruitment, independent of individual platforms where ads ultimately appear. [1]
Sources
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 [[https://investigate.afsc.org/industry/digital-advertising Digital Advertising & DHS | AFSC Investigate]]
- ↑ [[https://www.fastcompany.com/ice-dhs-recruitment-ads-streaming-platforms ICE Is Spending Millions on Streaming Ads to Recruit Agents | Fast Company]]
- ↑ [[https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/ice-recruitment-ads-streaming-backlash-1235/ ICE Recruitment Ads Spark Backlash Across Digital Platforms | Rolling Stone]]