Abstract
Alternative cancer treatments are associated with earlier time to death when used without evidence-based treatments. Our study suggests alternative cancer clinics providing scientifically unsupported cancer treatments spent an estimated $15,839,504 on Google ads from 2012 to 2023 targeting users in the United States. The ads led to an estimated 6,717,663 website visits. Paid traffic constituted 44.4% of all website traffic. Advertisers targeted cancer patients using Google’s keyword matching feature which matches ad keywords to the searches of Google users.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1-14 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| Journal | Harvard Kennedy School Misinformation Review |
| Volume | 5 |
| Issue number | 7 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 23 Dec 2024 |
Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)
- 035 unique emulated searches on cancer prognosis
- 20
- accessing treatment
- alternative treatments
- and late-stage cancer
- diagnosis
- selected by advertisers mimicked the sensitive informational search queries of cancer patients. In 2023
- specific cancers
- treatment options