Google has discovered Russian agents spent tens of thousands of dollars on ads during the 2016 election that were meant to spread false information on the tech giant's YouTube, Gmail, and DoubleClick platforms, according to a report Monday morning.
The discovery marks the first time the Silicon Valley Web search platform has confirmed the Russian government used its products to affect the election.
However, the incident does not appear to have been carried out by the same Russian agents that orchestrated an ad-buying campaign on Facebook last year, the Washington Post reported. Facebook's probe found a Kremlin-affiliated troll farm purchased 3,000 ads on Facebook, a separate buyer than the one Google detected.
Just under $100,000 of ads were purchased through Google, though the company has yet to figure out if trolls or Russian officials made the buys.
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