New in @stemcellreports.bsky.social: our study led by @srmarcon.bsky.social w/ @caulfieldtim.bsky.social looks at how “stem cell” supplements are sold on Amazon and whether the marketing aligns with U.S. & Canadian regulations. Conclusion: Amazon can do better to not enable bunk.
cc @uottawa.ca

September vibes on campus @uottawa.ca

Anti-science sentiment is everywhere, but Canada is standing firm: #ScienceMatters! Great to see this statement and its signatories. scienceupfirst.com/sciencematte... @caulfieldtim.bsky.social

How Google search ads work: advertisers, like alternative cancer clinics, can choose to show their ads when users search specific phrases. When it comes to cancer, this means sensitive searches ("terminal cancer treatment") can be met with potentially exploitative ads.

We find advertisers mimicked the sensitive queries of cancer patients to target them with their marketing using Google’s keyword-matching feature. In 2023, 20,035 unique keywords emulated Google searches seeking information on the themes below.

Google search ads allow advertisers to select keywords/phrases which are then matched to the searches of Google users. See below an example of a fake ad I set up & how I could theoretically target my ad to Google searches seeking cancer information.

When anyone searches for information on cancer treatment options - they shouldn't see ads for scientifically unsupported treatment or ads targeting people who have exhausted their treatment options. Our new study (unfortunately) finds this is occurring misinforeview.hks.harvard.edu/article/goog...