In case you missed our email blast yesterday, we’re thrilled to see that Google has taken action against scammers and updated its ad policies after our blockbuster report on how it enabled diet pill scammers.

It’s a win for everyone who uses Google. As Nandini told Mashable: "We can do a little happy dance today knowing our pressure led to this significant change in policy and enforcement from the world's largest advertising corporation."

Ads are a battlefield ⚔️

Speaking of Nandini, she appeared on the Great Battlefield podcast this week and broke down what Check My Ads is all about: "The same people funding disinfo and hate are also defrauding advertisers out of billions of dollars collectively. And that rot goes all the way to the top. That has been, for the most part, in the biggest way, at scale happening at Google." Give it a listen here!

Checkmates, check in! 🎤

Next month, we’re having another Checkmates call, which are informal chats with our recurring donors. Last time, a few members of the Check My Ads team stopped by to talk about their work to regulate the industry funding disinformation. This month, Checkmates will get to meet our investigative reporter Rachel Gilmore! Rachel is an award-winning journalist with extensive experience reporting on federal politics, disinformation, and extremism, and we can’t wait for you to meet her.

If you’re already a Checkmate, invites will be going out soon. If you’re not and would like to become one, we’d love to have you!

Rome, if you want to 🇮🇹

Disinformation isn’t just a problem in the US — that’s why our policy director Sarah will be speaking on a defunding disinformation panel at the Italian Parliament on Feb. 29. You can find out more, register for the event, and watch it here. Ciao!

What we’re reading 🤓

• The pivot to performance: Brian Morrissey breaks down a major shift in where ad dollars go. It’s not enough to be a premium destination. You have to show performance.
• Reddit goes public: Though Reddit is one of the most-visited sites in the US, its ad revenue is anemic. It’s hoping to change that.
• Why we don’t trust each other anymore: Grab a cup of tea before diving into Kyla Scanlon's piece that, though it is more focused on economic language, talks about how we got into this deeply divisive atmosphere — and how to get somewhere better.

Thank you for being with us this week.

Hugs,

Claire & Nandini