#medical seo

[physiciansdigitalservices]

What is medical SEO?

When a patient looks for a doctor for varicose veins on Google Search, the search results page will display listings for nearby vascular specialists within milliseconds.

The top of the search results pages contains the highest algorithmic scores, while the bottom or following pages receive lower scores. As search algorithms advance and the level of competition for medical website SEO rises, it is essential to devise a thorough medical SEO strategy.

It helps potential patients find your website at the top of search results

Acquire patients organically, not through paid ads or referrals

Assisting patients to find key information that builds trust in your practice

[solution21]

What Advantages Does a Medical SEO Agency in Tustin Offer?

In the increasingly competitive healthcare landscape, having a strong online presence is crucial for medical practices looking to attract new patients and maintain a solid relationship with their existing ones. As potential patients increasingly turn to search engines to find healthcare providers, the importance of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) cannot be overstated. A specialized medical SEO agency in Tustin can provide invaluable expertise and strategies tailored specifically for healthcare providers. This article explores the numerous advantages a medical SEO agency offers to practices in Tustin, California, and how these benefits can lead to enhanced visibility, patient engagement, and overall success.

Expertise in Healthcare SEO

One of the most significant advantages of partnering with a medical SEO agency is their specialized knowledge and expertise in the field of healthcare. Unlike general SEO firms, a medical SEO agency understands the unique challenges and regulations associated with marketing medical services. They are well-versed in compliance with healthcare regulations, such as HIPAA, and know how to create marketing strategies that adhere to these guidelines while still being effective.

This expertise allows them to develop targeted strategies that resonate with patients seeking specific medical services. Whether your practice specializes in pediatrics, orthopedics, or dermatology, a medical SEO agency can tailor its approach to highlight your unique offerings. This specialized focus ensures that your practice stands out in a crowded marketplace, ultimately attracting more patients.

Local SEO Strategies for Patient Acquisition

For medical practices, local SEO is particularly critical. Most patients search for healthcare services within their geographical area, making it essential for your practice to rank high in local search results. A medical SEO agency in Tustin understands the local market dynamics and can implement effective local SEO strategies tailored to your practice.

This includes optimizing your Google My Business listing to ensure that your practice appears in local searches and map results. The agency will optimize your practice’s name, address, and phone number (NAP) consistency across online directories, which is crucial for local search visibility. Additionally, the agency can help encourage satisfied patients to leave positive reviews, which can significantly impact your local search rankings. By focusing on local SEO, your practice can effectively connect with the Tustin community and increase patient inquiries.

Comprehensive Keyword Research

Effective keyword research is the backbone of any successful SEO strategy. A medical SEO agency conducts thorough research to identify the most relevant and high-traffic keywords specific to your practice. This involves analyzing search trends, competition, and user intent to ensure that your website ranks for the keywords potential patients are using when searching for medical services.

For example, if you operate a dental practice, the agency might target keywords like “family dentist Tustin” or “emergency dental care near me.” By strategically incorporating these keywords into your website content, blog posts, and service pages, the agency can improve your chances of ranking higher in search results, driving more qualified traffic to your site.

Creating High-Quality, Patient-Centric Content

Content is a crucial element of SEO, and a medical SEO agency excels in creating high-quality, engaging content that resonates with your target audience. This includes informative blog posts, patient education materials, and engaging visuals that not only attract visitors but also establish your practice as a trusted authority in the healthcare field.

By providing valuable information, such as tips for maintaining health, explanations of various procedures, or answers to common patient questions, your practice can foster trust and credibility. Engaging content not only enhances your SEO efforts but also encourages visitors to spend more time on your site, ultimately improving your search rankings.

Improving Website Performance and User Experience

Website performance and user experience (UX) are critical factors in SEO success. A medical SEO agency will evaluate your website’s design, functionality, and performance to ensure it meets the needs of potential patients. This includes optimizing site speed, improving navigation, and ensuring that your website is mobile-responsive.

With a growing number of patients using smartphones to search for medical services, having a well-designed and mobile-friendly website is essential. A positive user experience not only helps improve your search rankings but also encourages visitors to explore your services, leading to higher conversion rates.

Building Authority with Quality Backlinks

Backlinks are an essential component of SEO, as they signal to search engines that your website is a credible and authoritative source of information. A medical SEO agency will develop a strategy to acquire high-quality backlinks from reputable sources in the healthcare field.

This could involve guest blogging on healthcare websites, collaborating with local health organizations, or earning features in local news articles. By building a strong backlink profile, your practice can improve its domain authority, leading to better search engine rankings and increased visibility.

Tracking Performance and Measuring Success

Another significant advantage of partnering with a medical SEO agency is their ability to track and analyze performance metrics. By utilizing advanced analytics tools, the agency can monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) such as website traffic, conversion rates, and keyword rankings.

This data-driven approach allows the agency to assess the effectiveness of SEO strategies and make adjustments as needed. For instance, if certain keywords are driving traffic but not converting into appointments, the agency can refine website content or calls to action to improve conversions. Continuous monitoring and optimization ensure that your medical practice remains competitive and adaptable to changes in the market.

Adapting to Industry Trends and Changes

The digital marketing landscape, particularly in healthcare, is constantly evolving. Search engine algorithms frequently change, impacting how websites are ranked. A specialized medical SEO agency stays up-to-date with these industry trends and best practices, ensuring that your practice’s SEO strategies remain effective and relevant.

By keeping abreast of the latest developments in SEO, including changes in patient search behavior and emerging digital marketing trends, the agency can adapt your strategies accordingly. This proactive approach helps your practice maintain a competitive edge in the ever-changing digital environment.

Managing Your Online Reputation

A medical SEO agency can also assist in managing your online reputation. This involves monitoring online reviews, responding to patient feedback, and promoting positive patient experiences. In the healthcare industry, a strong online reputation is essential for attracting new patients and retaining existing ones.

The agency can guide you in developing strategies for soliciting reviews from satisfied patients and addressing any negative feedback professionally. By actively managing your online reputation, your practice can foster trust and loyalty within the community, ultimately leading to increased patient acquisition and retention.

Conclusion

In conclusion, partnering with a medical SEO agency in Tustin offers numerous advantages for healthcare practices looking to enhance their online presence and attract new patients. From leveraging specialized knowledge in healthcare SEO to implementing effective local SEO strategies and creating engaging content, a medical SEO agency provides the expertise needed to navigate the complexities of digital marketing in the healthcare sector.

As the healthcare landscape becomes increasingly competitive, investing in SEO is not merely an option; it is a necessity. By leveraging the strategies and insights provided by a medical SEO agency, your practice can establish itself as a trusted authority in the community, drive patient engagement, and ultimately thrive in the digital age.

The time to enhance your practice’s online visibility and reputation is now. Embrace the power of medical SEO, and watch your practice flourish in Tustin’s vibrant healthcare market.

[anuvallc1]

Transform Your Medical Practice with Strategic SEO

In today’s competitive healthcare landscape, having a robust online presence is no longer optional. As patients increasingly rely on the internet to find medical providers, it's critical for healthcare practices to stand out in search engine results. This is where SEO for medical practices becomes essential. By optimizing your digital strategy, you can improve your website’s visibility, reach more patients, and build long-term credibility.

The Importance of SEO for Medical Practices

More than ever, patients are searching online for healthcare solutions, treatments, and doctors. They expect to find relevant, trustworthy information quickly, and tend to trust providers who appear at the top of search results. That’s where medical SEO comes into play—it helps your practice rank higher for relevant queries, allowing you to be more visible to the patients who need your services.

Medical practices that leverage SEO for medical websites benefit from increased organic traffic, higher engagement, and ultimately, more appointments. This makes it an indispensable part of modern healthcare marketing.

Key SEO Strategies for Medical Practices

To successfully implement SEO for medical practices, you need a multi-faceted approach. Here are the primary strategies that can help your practice thrive:

Keyword Research and Optimization: Understanding the search terms that potential patients are using is crucial. Common phrases like “orthopedic surgeon near me” or “best general practitioner in [city]” need to be integrated into your website content. This ensures that when patients search for these terms, your website appears in the top results. By strategically placing these keywords in blog posts, service pages, and meta tags, your medical practice will rank higher in search engines.

Optimizing Your Medical Website: Technical performance matters. A fast, mobile-friendly website with easy navigation is critical for improving user experience and search rankings. Medical website SEO ensures that your site is optimized for both search engines and patients, leading to better rankings and more user-friendly functionality. Websites that load quickly, are responsive across devices, and provide clear calls to action will convert more visitors into patients.

Content Creation: One of the most powerful aspects of SEO for medical websites is the ability to create valuable, educational content. Blogging about common medical issues, treatments, or prevention tips positions your practice as a thought leader. Not only does this build trust with potential patients, but it also drives more traffic as search engines prioritize informative, high-quality content. Regularly publishing blogs, FAQs, and patient guides helps establish your practice as an expert in your field.

Benefits of Medical SEO

Implementing a well-thought-out medical SEO strategy offers a host of advantages for healthcare providers:

Increased Patient Traffic: Appearing in the top positions on search engine results increases the likelihood of patients visiting your website, which can lead to more inquiries and appointments.

Higher Credibility and Trust: Websites that rank well are often seen as more credible. Patients are more likely to trust a provider who ranks at the top of search results for their medical needs.

Enhanced User Experience: SEO isn’t just about getting more traffic; it’s about improving your website for a smoother user experience. This translates to better engagement and retention rates, as patients can easily find what they are looking for.

Cost-Effective Marketing: Unlike paid ads, SEO delivers long-term results. Once your site is optimized, it will continue to attract traffic without the ongoing costs associated with advertising. Over time, the investment in SEO provides a high return, as it steadily generates leads and appointments.

Conclusion: Boost Your Practice with Medical SEO

For any healthcare provider, embracing SEO for medical practices is a smart investment in growth. By optimizing your website, creating valuable content, and focusing on patient-centric strategies, you can build a stronger online presence. In turn, this leads to increased patient traffic, higher credibility, and long-term success. Whether you're looking to attract new patients or retain existing ones, medical website SEO is the key to standing out in today’s digital world.

Blog Post URL:

[ntiertechblogs]

In the contemporary digital landscape, healthcare services are experiencing a shift towards online platforms. Establishing a robust online presence for healthcare providers has become increasingly evident. This necessitates the crafting of an effective strategy for Search Engine Optimization (SEO), a cornerstone in enhancing visibility and credibility within the competitive healthcare sector. This exploration into healthcare SEO

[harveehealthcare]

Importance Of Google My Business For Doctors

When looking to improve their online credibility and visibility, healthcare professionals can't afford to ignore the value of Google My Business. You can make sure that prospective patients can quickly locate your hospital or clinic on Google Maps and search results by claiming and improving your listing. This optimization increases patient conversion rates and your practice's credibility and visibility.

By increasing your likelihood of showing up in local map listings and search results, Google My Business (GMB) can help you attract more patients to your office. Ensuring that prospective patients can readily reach you is ensured by providing accurate and current information about your practice, such as your address, phone number, and website link. Exact information also helps to establish reliability and trust, two things that are crucial in the medical field.

Patients can post reviews about their experiences using GMB's review management system, which helps to build your practice's reputation. Reacting to reviews—positive or negative—shows prospective patients that you are dedicated to their well-being and fosters their trust.

Healthcare providers can take use of specialized features that highlight services provided, precise operating hours, and appointment scheduling integration. Showcasing telehealth alternatives and safety precautions helps patients feel more secure about their health and safety, especially during a pandemic.

In order to achieve local search engine optimization (SEO), you must optimize your GMB profile. Choosing pertinent categories, adding keywords, and keeping an eye on insights raise your profile and increase audience interaction. The "Message" and "Request a Quote" options make it easier for patients to contact you, and having reviews appear on your website increases conversions.

Patients can post reviews about their experiences using GMB's review management system, which helps to build your practice's reputation. Reacting to reviews—positive or negative—shows prospective patients that you are dedicated to their well-being and fosters their trust.

Healthcare providers can take use of specialized features that highlight services provided, precise operating hours, and appointment scheduling integration. Showcasing telehealth alternatives and safety precautions helps patients feel more secure about their health and safety, especially during a pandemic.

In order to achieve local search engine optimization (SEO), you must optimize your GMB profile. Choosing pertinent categories, adding keywords, and keeping an eye on insights raise your profile and increase audience interaction. The "Message" and "Request a Quote" options make it easier for patients to contact you, and having reviews appear on your website increases conversions.

FOR MORE INFO VISIT: https://www.harveehealthcare.com/blog/google-my-business-for-doctors/

[joys34]

Our expertise lies in optimizing your online presence to guarantee optimal visibility for your Healthcare Services.

[medresponsive]

Healthcare SEO Services | Medical SEO

Boost your practice's online presence with our specialized healthcare SEO services. MedResponsive offers tailored solutions for medical SEO. https://www.medresponsive.com/services/healthcare-seo/

[getmoretraffic]

Medical Marketing Services by Get More Traffic

🚀 Boost your medical practice with effective online marketing strategies tailored for doctors. 🌐 Enhance your online presence, attract more patients, and build trust with targeted digital campaigns. 💻📲 Let us help you reach new heights in the digital landscape.

https://www.scribd.com/document/659461190/Doctors-Online-Marketing-Services-by-Get-More-Traffic

[whumpetywhump]

Begins ≠ Youth - Ep. 8

[solution21]

Driving Growth, Elevating Visibility: Insights from Medical SEO Experts

Introduction

In the ever-evolving landscape of digital marketing, search engine optimization (SEO) has emerged as a critical strategy for medical practices looking to expand their online presence and attract new patients. Medical SEO experts play a pivotal role in helping healthcare providers navigate the complexities of SEO to drive growth and elevate visibility. In this guide, we'll delve into the insights from medical SEO experts and explore the strategies they employ to achieve these goals.

Understanding the Role of Medical SEO Experts

Before delving into the insights from medical SEO experts, it's essential to understand their role in the digital marketing ecosystem. Medical SEO experts specialize in optimizing medical websites to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs). Their primary goal is to increase the visibility of medical practices online, attract more organic traffic, and ultimately convert visitors into patients.

Insights from Medical SEO Experts

Comprehensive Keyword Research

One of the fundamental strategies employed by medical SEO experts is comprehensive keyword research. This involves identifying the keywords and phrases that potential patients are using to search for medical services online. By targeting these keywords in their website content, medical practices can improve their chances of ranking higher in search engine results.

Content Optimization

Content optimization is another key strategy used by medical SEO experts. They optimize the content on a medical practice's website to ensure that it is relevant, informative, and keyword-rich. This can include optimizing page titles, meta descriptions, and body content to improve search engine visibility.

Local SEO

Local SEO is especially important for medical practices, as many patients search for healthcare providers in their local area. Medical SEO experts focus on optimizing a medical practice's website for local search, ensuring that it appears in local search results and on Google Maps.

Link Building

Link building is a critical component of SEO, and medical SEO experts employ various strategies to build high-quality backlinks to a medical practice's website from other reputable sites. This helps improve the website's authority and credibility in the eyes of search engines, ultimately improving its search engine ranking.

Technical SEO

Technical SEO involves optimizing the technical aspects of a website to improve its search engine ranking. Medical SEO experts focus on optimizing site speed, improving mobile-friendliness, and ensuring that the website is secure and free from errors.

Monitoring and Reporting

Medical SEO experts also play a crucial role in monitoring the performance of a medical practice's website and providing regular reports on its search engine ranking and traffic. This allows the medical practice to track the success of its SEO efforts and make any necessary adjustments.

Conclusion

In conclusion, medical SEO experts play a critical role in helping medical practices drive growth and elevate visibility in the digital landscape. By employing strategies such as comprehensive keyword research, content optimization, local SEO, link building, technical SEO, and monitoring and reporting, medical SEO experts can help medical practices improve their online presence, attract more patients, and achieve their business goals.

[anuvallc1]

Transform Your Medical Practice with Strategic SEO

In today’s competitive healthcare landscape, having a robust online presence is no longer optional. As patients increasingly rely on the internet to find medical providers, it's critical for healthcare practices to stand out in search engine results. This is where SEO for medical practices becomes essential. By optimizing your digital strategy, you can improve your website’s visibility, reach more patients, and build long-term credibility.

The Importance of SEO for Medical Practices

More than ever, patients are searching online for healthcare solutions, treatments, and doctors. They expect to find relevant, trustworthy information quickly, and tend to trust providers who appear at the top of search results. That’s where medical SEO comes into play—it helps your practice rank higher for relevant queries, allowing you to be more visible to the patients who need your services.

Medical practices that leverage SEO for medical websites benefit from increased organic traffic, higher engagement, and ultimately, more appointments. This makes it an indispensable part of modern healthcare marketing.

Key SEO Strategies for Medical Practices

To successfully implement SEO for medical practices, you need a multi-faceted approach. Here are the primary strategies that can help your practice thrive:

Keyword Research and Optimization: Understanding the search terms that potential patients are using is crucial. Common phrases like “orthopedic surgeon near me” or “best general practitioner in [city]” need to be integrated into your website content. This ensures that when patients search for these terms, your website appears in the top results. By strategically placing these keywords in blog posts, service pages, and meta tags, your medical practice will rank higher in search engines.

Optimizing Your Medical Website: Technical performance matters. A fast, mobile-friendly website with easy navigation is critical for improving user experience and search rankings. Medical website SEO ensures that your site is optimized for both search engines and patients, leading to better rankings and more user-friendly functionality. Websites that load quickly, are responsive across devices, and provide clear calls to action will convert more visitors into patients.

Content Creation: One of the most powerful aspects of SEO for medical websites is the ability to create valuable, educational content. Blogging about common medical issues, treatments, or prevention tips positions your practice as a thought leader. Not only does this build trust with potential patients, but it also drives more traffic as search engines prioritize informative, high-quality content. Regularly publishing blogs, FAQs, and patient guides helps establish your practice as an expert in your field.

Benefits of Medical SEO

Implementing a well-thought-out medical SEO strategy offers a host of advantages for healthcare providers:

Increased Patient Traffic: Appearing in the top positions on search engine results increases the likelihood of patients visiting your website, which can lead to more inquiries and appointments.

Higher Credibility and Trust: Websites that rank well are often seen as more credible. Patients are more likely to trust a provider who ranks at the top of search results for their medical needs.

Enhanced User Experience: SEO isn’t just about getting more traffic; it’s about improving your website for a smoother user experience. This translates to better engagement and retention rates, as patients can easily find what they are looking for.

Cost-Effective Marketing: Unlike paid ads, SEO delivers long-term results. Once your site is optimized, it will continue to attract traffic without the ongoing costs associated with advertising. Over time, the investment in SEO provides a high return, as it steadily generates leads and appointments.

Conclusion: Boost Your Practice with Medical SEO

For any healthcare provider, embracing SEO for medical practices is a smart investment in growth. By optimizing your website, creating valuable content, and focusing on patient-centric strategies, you can build a stronger online presence. In turn, this leads to increased patient traffic, higher credibility, and long-term success. Whether you're looking to attract new patients or retain existing ones, medical website SEO is the key to standing out in today’s digital world.

Blog Post URL:

[theninthpiece]

Elevate your medical practice by implementing targeted social media and SEO strategies. Enhance visibility, attract more patients, and dominate healthcare marketing. Discover how today!

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Google makes millions on paid abortion disinformation

Google’s search quality has been in steady decline for years, and Google assures us that they’re working on it, though the most visible effort is replacing links to webpages with lengthy, florid paragraphs written by a confident habitual liar chatbot:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/02/16/tweedledumber/#easily-spooked

The internet is increasingly full of garbage, much of it written by other confident habitual liar chatbots, which are now extruding plausible sentences at enormous scale. Future confident habitual liar chatbots will be trained on the output of these confident liar chatbots, producing Jathan Sadowski’s “Habsburg AI”:

https://twitter.com/jathansadowski/status/1625245803211272194

But the declining quality of Google Search isn’t merely a function of chatbot overload. For many years, Google’s local business listings have been terrible. Anyone who’s tried to find a handyman, a locksmith, an emergency tow, or other small businessperson has discovered that Google is worse than useless for this. Try to search for that locksmith on the corner that you pass every day? You won’t find them — but you will find a fake locksmith service that will dispatch an unqualified, fumble-fingered guy with a drill and a knockoff lock, who will drill out your lock, replace it with one made of bubblegum and spit, and charge you 400% the going rate (and then maybe come back to rob you):

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/31/business/fake-online-locksmiths-may-be-out-to-pick-your-pocket-too.html

Google is clearly losing the fraud/spam wars, which is pretty awful, given that they have spent billions to put every other search engine out of business. They spend $45b every year to secure exclusivity deals that prevent people from discovering or using rivals — that’s like buying a whole Twitter every year, just so they don’t have to compete:

https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/how-a-google-antitrust-case-could/

But there’s an even worse form of fraudulent listing on Google, one they could do something about, but choose not to: ad-fraud. For all the money and energy thrown into “dark SEO” to trick Google into putting your shitty, scammy website at the top of the listings, there’s a much simpler method. All you need to do is pay Google — buy an ad, and your obviously fraudulent site will be right there, at the top of the search results.

There are so many top searches that go to fraud or malware sites. Tech support is a favorite. It’s not uncommon to search for tech support for Google products and be served a fake tech-support website where a scammer will try to trick you into installing a remote-access trojan and then steal everything you have, and/or take blackmail photos of you with your webcam:

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/google-search-ads-infiltrated-again-by-tech-support-scams/

This is true even when Google has a trivial means of reliably detecting fraud. Take the restaurant monster-in-the-middle scam: a scammer clones the menu of a restaurant, marking up their prices by 15%, and then buys the top ad slot for searches for that restaurant. Search for the restaurant, click the top link, and land on a lookalike site. The scammer collects your order, bills your card, then places the same order, in your name, with the restaurant.

The thing is, Google runs these ads even for restaurants that are verified merchants — Google mails the restaurant a postcard with a unique number on it, and the restaurant owner keys that number in to verify that they are who they say they are. It would not be hard for Google to check whether an ad for a business matches one of its verified merchants, and, if so, whether the email address is a different one from the verified one on file. If so, Google could just email the verified address with a “Please confirm that you’re trying to buy an ad for a website other than the one we have on file” message:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/02/24/passive-income/#swiss-cheese-security

Google doesn’t do this. Instead, they accept — and make a fortune from — paid disinformation, across every category.

But not all categories of paid disinformation are equally bad: it’s one thing to pay a 15% surcharge on a takeout meal, but there’s a whole universe of paid medical disinformation that Google knows about and has an official policy of tolerating.

This paid medical disinformation comes from “crisis pregnancy centers”: these are fake abortion clinics that raise huge sums from religious fanatics to buy ads that show up for people seeking information about procuring an abortion. If they are duped by one of these ads, they are directed to a Big Con-style storefront staffed by people who pretend that they perform abortions, but who bombard their marks with falsehoods about health complications.

These con artists try to trick their marks into consenting to sexual assault — a transvaginal ultrasound. This is a prelude to another fraud, in which the “sporadic electrical impulses” generated by an early fetal structure is a “heartbeat” (early fetuses do not have hearts, so they cannot produce heartbeats):

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/womens-health/heartbeat-bills-called-fetal-heartbeat-six-weeks-pregnancy-rcna24435

If the victim still insists on getting an abortion, the fraudsters will use deceptive tactics to draw out the process until they run out the clock for a legal abortion, procuring a forced birth through deceit.

It is hard to imagine a less ethical course of conduct. Google’s policy of accepting “crisis pregnancy center” ads is the moral equivalent of taking money from fake oncologists who counsel people with cancer to forego chemotherapy in favor of juice-cleanses.

There is no ambiguity here: the purpose of a “crisis prengancy center” is to deceive people seeking abortions into thinking they are dealing with an abortion clinic, and then further deceive them into foregoing the abortion, by means of lies, sexually invasive and unnecessary medical procedures, and delaying tactics.

Now, a new report from the Center for Countering Digital Hate finds that Google made $10m last year on ads from “crisis pregnancy centers”:

https://www.wired.com/story/google-made-millions-from-ads-for-fake-abortion-clinics/

Many of these “crisis pregnancy centers” are also registered 501(c)3 charities, which makes them eligible for Google’s ad grants, which provide free ads to nonprofits. Marketers who cater to “crisis pregnancy center” advertise that they can help their clients qualify for these grants. In 2019, Google was caught giving tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of free ads to “crisis pregnancy centers”:

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/may/12/google-advertising-abortion-obria

The keywords that “crisis pregnancy centers” bid up include “Planned Parenthood” — meaning that if actual Planned Parenthood clinics want to appear at the top of the search for “planned parenthood,” they have to outbid the fraudsters seeking to deceive Planned Parenthood patients.

Google has an official policy of requiring customers that pay for ads matching abortion-related search terms to label their ads to state whether or not they provide abortions, but the report documents failures to enforce this policy. The labels themselves are confusing: for example, abortion travel funds have to be labeled as “not providing abortions.”

Google isn’t afraid to ban whole categories of advertising: for example, Google has banned Plan C, a nonprofit that provides information about medication abortions. The company erroneously classes Plan C as an “unauthorized pharmacy.” But Google continues to offer paid disinformation on behalf of forced birth groups that claim there is such a thing as “abortion reversal” (there isn’t — but the “abortion reversal” drug cocktail is potentially lethal).

This is inexcusable, but it’s not unique — and it’s not even that profitable. $10m is a drop in the bucket for a company like Google. When you’re lighting $45b/year on fire just to prevent competition, $10m is chump change. A better way to understand Google’s relationship to paid disinformation can be found by studying Facebook’s own paid disinformation problem.

Facebook has a well-documented problem with paid political disinformation — unambiguous, illegal materials, like paid notices advising people to remember to vote on November 6th (when election day falls on November 5th). The company eventually promised to put political ads in a repository where they could be inspected by all parties to track its progress in blocking paid disinformation.

Facebook did a terrible job at this, with huge slices of its political ads never landing in its transparency portal. We know this because independent researchers at NYU’s engineering school built an independent, crowdsourced tracker called Ad Observer, which scraped all the ads volunteers saw and uploaded them to a portal called Ad Observatory.

Facebook viciously attacked the NYU project, falsely smearing it as a privacy risk (the plugin was open source and was independently audited by Mozilla researchers, who confirmed that it didn’t collect any personal information). When that didn’t work, they sent a stream of legal threats, claiming that NYU was trafficking in a “circumvention device” as defined by Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, a felony carrying a five-year prison sentence and a $500k fine — for a first offense.

Eventually, NYU folded the project. Facebook, meanwhile, has fired or reassigned most of the staff who work on political ad transparency:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/08/06/get-you-coming-and-going/#potemkin-research-program

What are we to make of this? Facebook claims that it doesn’t need or want political ad revenue, which are a drop in the bucket and cause all kinds of headaches. That’s likely true — but Facebook’s aversion to blocking political ads doesn’t extend to spending a lot of money to keep paid political disinfo off the platform.

The company could turn up the sensitivity on its blocking algorithm, which would generate more false positives, in which nonpolitical ads are misidentified and have to be reviewed by humans. This is expensive, and it’s an expense Facebook can avoid if it can suppress information about its failures to block paid political disinformation. It’s cheaper to silence critics than it is to address their criticism.

I don’t think Google gives a shit about the $10m it gets from predatory fake abortion clinics. But I think the company believes that the PR trouble it would get into for blocking them — and the expense it would incur in trying to catch and block fake abortion clinic ads — are real liabilities. In other words, it’s not about the $10m it would lose by blocking the ads — Google wants to avoid the political heat it would take from forced birth fanatics and cost of the human reviewers who would have to double-check rejected ads.

In other words, Google doesn’t abet fraudulent abortion clinics because they share the depraved sadism of the people who run these clinics. Rather, Google teams up with these sadists out of cowardice and greed.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/06/15/paid-medical-disinformation/#crisis-pregnancy-centers

[Image ID: A ruined streetscene. Atop a pile of rubble sits a dilapidated shack. In front of the shack is a letterboard with the word ABORTIONS set off-center and crooked. In the foreground is a carny barker at a podium, gesturing at the sign and the shack. The barker's head and face have been replaced with the Google logo. Within the barker's podium is a heap of US$100 bills.]

Image: Flying Logos (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Over_$1,000,000_dollars_in_USD_$100_bill_stacks.png

CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en

[mythvoiced]

-. here's the issue sometimes i get muse ideas where i don't know where they came from but get this awkward dreadful feeling i might have just literally seen a moot write 'em, so if you see me come up with a muse too similar to yours SHOOT ME PLS ty ♥

so, single father can't connect to daughter bc he has to juggle being a single father, having a regular day job, and a more risky night job where i'm thinking he's one of those organized crime "freelance" medics? (every time i think underground criminal tie doctor i instantly think of that guy from drrr!! which BTW does... do people still consider drrr!! a classic, i--)

a whole lot of conversations of 'mom never forgot [insert]!' or 'mom would always [insert]!' because she used to live with her mother but her mother passed tragically somehow, and now this sad guy has to (unfortunately for her) step in; former regular doctor but fell out of grace after losing a patient maybe and his shit about it, maybe he got blamed for the death of someone very important, so he's now just a regular barista somewhere EXCEPT you don't need a medical license if you're patching up criminals, you just need the skills, so guess what he got dragged in to!!!

his daughter is, like... 13 which is ofc the perfect age for such a sudden life-altering event to impact you at (sarcasm ofc), so yeah, FUN STUFF! he's, like, in his early 30s somewhere, so obviously they had her very young (listen, if you have kids at 20 that's... that's young to me, i'm turning 25 in two months and i've only recently began to let 'i'm an adult' set in properly, idk) which might have been part of the reason behind splitting in the first place, because they did split very early on, most likely high-school sweethearts who thought they'd had it all figured out except lmao

[joys34]

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