Marco Zenone
@marcozenone.bsky.social
Assistant Professor @uOttawa researching medical & public health mis/disinformation, digital platforms, and commercial determinants of health.
Zenonelab.ca
Zenonelab.ca
A great analysis of the study by @hiltzikm.bsky.social in the LA Times. www.latimes.com/business/sto...
Commentary: How Amazon provides a marketplace for worthless stem cell supplements
Supplement promoters claim their products can enhance your stem cells. Don't believe them
www.latimes.com
October 17, 2025 at 4:07 PM
A great analysis of the study by @hiltzikm.bsky.social in the LA Times. www.latimes.com/business/sto...
People with cancer are already carrying enough. Ending a harmful practice that adds to their burden shouldn’t be up for debate. Thank you to co-authors @srmarcon.bsky.social @spidermaani.bsky.social @maizie333.bsky.social @caulfieldtim.bsky.social @kenworthy.bsky.social Greg Hartwell.
June 4, 2025 at 5:01 PM
People with cancer are already carrying enough. Ending a harmful practice that adds to their burden shouldn’t be up for debate. Thank you to co-authors @srmarcon.bsky.social @spidermaani.bsky.social @maizie333.bsky.social @caulfieldtim.bsky.social @kenworthy.bsky.social Greg Hartwell.
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.
June 4, 2025 at 5:01 PM
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.
This article is based on our research in @misinforeview.bsky.social, demonstrating how alternative cancer clinics use Google ads to target people searching sensitive cancer-related queries. misinforeview.hks.harvard.edu/article/goog...
Google allows advertisers to target the sensitive informational queries of cancer patients | HKS Misinformation Review
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 ...
misinforeview.hks.harvard.edu
June 4, 2025 at 5:01 PM
This article is based on our research in @misinforeview.bsky.social, demonstrating how alternative cancer clinics use Google ads to target people searching sensitive cancer-related queries. misinforeview.hks.harvard.edu/article/goog...
This is but one example of a larger issue (this does not happen only for cancer). Google search ads enable advertisers to exploit users’ searches for information. Google should urgently prohibit keywords targeting the sensitive information queries of medically vulnerable groups.
January 2, 2025 at 5:37 PM
This is but one example of a larger issue (this does not happen only for cancer). Google search ads enable advertisers to exploit users’ searches for information. Google should urgently prohibit keywords targeting the sensitive information queries of medically vulnerable groups.
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.
January 2, 2025 at 5:37 PM
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.
January 2, 2025 at 5:37 PM
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.