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All political ads running on Google in the US

adstransparency.google.com

201–210 of 354 posts

Re: All political ads running on Google in the US

#201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Meetings ended and I couldn't wait to get back! So, searching via that Exempt Organization Search led to a 501(c)(3) letter being issued to Small Town Truth, mailed to a residential address in the care of the "Better Narrative Group" - another "interesting" site[0]. Doing a little more searching, I've found another 501(c)(3) in care of Better Narrative Group: Soul of a Nation Media. Similar setup. In trying to find m…

> Both Small Town Truth and Soul of a Nation Media changed addresses to a PO Box in Virginia in 2022 What else is at that P.O. box?

Good question. Uncovering some more things here, with a wider web.

Another tax-exempt org was established in 2021 (like the others), named NORTH CAROLINA VOLUNTEER CORPS. This one, though, was established in Asheville, NC. Like the others, it was moved to the same P.O. Box in 2022. It was registered under the care of a different name. Its taxes were also filed by ChurchBiz.

Another entity registered at this address is AMA AL PROMIJO. This has a web presence like the other original sites[0]. It was also registered in 2021 and changed address in 2022 to the P.O. Box, but was registered in care of another different name. The fact that the website has the same feel as those others that branched off Small Town Truth is odd, though.

There is also a BORN BROWN INSTITUTE, which has some different presences on LinkedIn and such[1].

Now that this address appears associated with some different non-profits, I wonder if there’s some entity that acts as an agent for helping establishing non-profits operating out of this P.O. Box, hence the mix of entities I’m now bumping into.

Still. It’s an interesting web here I can’t quite make sense of. I’m also being a little circumspect here in order to not accidentally dox someone, but the research is fairly straightforward with the Exempt Organization Search site and some googling.

[0] https://www.ama-al-projimo.org/

[1] https://www.wjbf.com/business/press-releases/ein-presswire/6...

Re: All political ads running on Google in the US

#202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Both Small Town Truth and Soul of a Nation Media changed addresses to a PO Box in Virginia in 2022 What else is at that P.O. box?

Good question. Uncovering some more things here, with a wider web. Another tax-exempt org was established in 2021 (like the others), named NORTH CAROLINA VOLUNTEER CORPS. This one, though, was established in Asheville, NC. Like the others, it was moved to the same P.O. Box in 2022. It was registered under the care of a different name. Its taxes were also filed by ChurchBiz. Another entity registered at this address i…

One more interesting update: AMA AL PROMIJO was established in care of an individual named Eric Sapp. Some googling landed me on an org’s site named Public Democracy. One of the other team members at the company[0] is the person named in care of one of the NORTH CAROLINA VOLUNTEER CORPS.

Seems we have some glue here! Time to learn more about this Public Democracy thing to try to figure out their angle.

[0] https://www.publicdemocracy.io/teammates

Re: All political ads running on Google in the US

#203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good question. Uncovering some more things here, with a wider web. Another tax-exempt org was established in 2021 (like the others), named NORTH CAROLINA VOLUNTEER CORPS. This one, though, was established in Asheville, NC. Like the others, it was moved to the same P.O. Box in 2022. It was registered under the care of a different name. Its taxes were also filed by ChurchBiz. Another entity registered at this address i…

One more interesting update: AMA AL PROMIJO was established in care of an individual named Eric Sapp. Some googling landed me on an org’s site named Public Democracy. One of the other team members at the company[0] is the person named in care of one of the NORTH CAROLINA VOLUNTEER CORPS. Seems we have some glue here! Time to learn more about this Public Democracy thing to try to figure out their angle. [0] https://ww…

Here's the website that has info about the program, and lists AMA AL PROMIJO as a 'partner': https://www.publicdemocracyamerica.org/better-angels-program

All these orgs are taking advantage of the 'Google Grants' program, which provides up to $10,000 per month in free search advertising for registered nonprofits. $120,000/yr in free ads for the cost of registering a nonprofit seems like a no-brainer for spreading a message. Likely drives up ad prices and gives a nice tax-break to Google, so they win too.

https://www.google.com/grants/faq/

Re: All political ads running on Google in the US

#204
post #200
post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not at my desktop, so I can’t really dig into the technical details of these sites, but by the look of them, they were all made either with the same tool and general components OR they were all made by the same group (maybe the same contracting firm or something)

The images are all hosted on wix, so I guess they're all built with wix (I checked through them all to see if I could track the images back to anything, it's all stock photos) The weirdest thing I find about everything in there is this hobby lobby page: https://www.smalltowntruth.org/our-economy

Yknow maybe these are just actual us political groups… they have to exist, right?

Re: All political ads running on Google in the US

#205
post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This. Something like 5 people are almost entirely funding Trump's slump (hard to call this mess a campaign) towards the White House and for sure they are going to want pay back. This is what oligarchy looks like.

> Trump's slump [...] towards the White House Somehow my mind supplies "slouch" instead, probably because of a poem [0]: > And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, > Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born? [0] https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43290/the-second-comi...

> The best lack all conviction and the worst are full of passionate intensity.

Every time I read this poem it nails something.

Incredible sense of tension and dread.

Re: All political ads running on Google in the US

#206

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sure we don't need to argue semantics here as you very well understand what I mean. The American public wasn't as divided as now. Heck, if Watergate were to have happened now, Nixon would have escaped scotch free - as Trump has. Joe Biden might even forever be remembered as the Neville Chamberlain of USA (even though Neville doesn't deserve his reputation while Biden absolutely does).

What analogy are you proposing with the Chamberlain thing? Are you mad the US hasn't declared war on Russia and worried that it is going to have dire consequences for the US?

Neville Chamberlain is widely looked down upon in the UK for inaction against Hitler (although one could also argue that he was buying time for the UK before it got into war economy mode).

Joe Biden will be looked down upon in the future of having thrown away the presidency to a convicted criminal, in spite of all the cards being stacked in the Democratic party's favor early in the race. If Trump wins, this will be the watershed moment in history historians will look at (assuming Trump-Vance go through with Project 2025 and what they're actually campaigning, or even the general weakening of American hegemony that is to be expected - it already happened in Trump 1).

Perhaps the Chamberlain analogy wasn't the right one here,but in my defence, I'm not American and not well-versed enough in American history to know if there was a past president who damaged the country by mere inaction, to draw parallels, although I think Buchanan and Andrew Johnson are (more severe) examples.

Re: All political ads running on Google in the US

#207

Fascinating stuff. I went down a rabbit hole with this particlar ad: https://adstransparency.google.com/advertiser/AR132650406472... It links to a website called fultongrandjury.com, which I at first thought would be an official government website, and what initially made me curious was the idea of spending money to advertise a government website, getting this additional credibility. Like, if the facts are so strongl…

[flagged]

The most salient feature of Russian meddling is playing all sides, both ideologically and in levels of sophistication.

The less-sophisticated efforts are basically misdirection and camouflage. They are intentionally disarming, akin to how their 'strongman' puppets make an effort to bumble and 'accidentally' feed the trolls. Covfefe bigly, if you will.

Re: All political ads running on Google in the US

#208
post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

boiling the frog slowly. if you start out being more expensive than traditional media, they won't use you. same thing with streaming. start out cheaper/more convenient/more comprehensive than traditional media - and an enormous market to grow into, so your shareholders are happy even with a reasonable price. wait a few years until you have saturated the market, and now the only way to achieve the holy growth is to ra…

https://imgur.com/presenting-recent-findings-by-fucking-magn...

now look at the same plot for Netflix: https://flixed.io/netflix-price-hikes

can you spot any difference? Look closely!

Re: All political ads running on Google in the US

#209
post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you thought to consider that the slowness in aiding Ukraine is a feature, not a bug?

the feature to see as many Ukrainians dead as possible?

And dead Russians. The longer the war goes, the better for the US and NATO. That's the whole reason it exists in the first place.
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