---
title: "Report: Monsanto Paid Google to Bury Unfavorable News"
description: "Monsanto, the agrochemical company infamous for developing agricultural pesticides that were linked to cancer, reportedly worked overtime to discredit investigative journalists criticizing the company. Monsanto even paid Google to help out. Carey Gillam, a journalist with Reuters, was reporting on the health effects of Monsanto’s products a few years back. As part of […]"
date: "2019-08-08"
modified: "2019-08-08"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/monsanto-google-hide-unfavorable-news"
categories:
  - "Artificial Intelligence"
  - "Google"
tags:
  - "cancer"
  - "Google"
  - "Monsanto"
  - "the digest"
---

# Report: Monsanto Paid Google to Bury Unfavorable News

![When journalist Carey Gillam investigated the link between Monsanto weedkillers and cancer, the company worked with Google to discredit her work.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/monsanto-google-hide-unfavorable-news.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Monsanto/Victor Tangermann\</em\>*

## Damage Control

Monsanto, [the agrochemical company](<https://futurism.com/gmo-wheat-escapes-lab-grows-wild>) that's attained notoriety for its agricultural pesticides and genetically modified organisms, reportedly worked overtime to discredit investigative journalists criticizing the company — and even paid the search giant Google to suppress the findings.

[Carey Gillam](<https://careygillam.com/articles/article/new-monsanto-documents-expose-cozy-connection-to-reuters-reporter>), a journalist with *Reuters*, was [reporting on the health effects](<https://www.reuters.com/article/monsanto-herbicide/monsanto-seeks-retraction-for-report-linking-herbicide-to-cancer-idUSL2N0WP0UM20150324>) of Monsanto's products a few years back. As part of a massive damage-control campaign, the company worked to discredit her work as much as possible, according to [an investigation](<https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/aug/07/monsanto-fusion-center-journalists-roundup-neil-young>) by *The Guardian*. Perhaps most troubling: the company reportedly paid Google to promote search results that questioned Gillam's findings — a disturbing look into how readily the flow of online information can be manipulated.

## Coordinated Effort

As Gillam prepared to publish her 2017 book, "Whitewash: The Story of a Weed Killer, Cancer, and the Corruption of Science," Monsanto went into overdrive, *The Guardian* reports. The company [assembled a spreadsheet](<https://usrtk.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Monsanto-Project-Spruce-Carey-Gillam-1.pdf>) of 23 specific steps it would take to downplay Gillam's key finding while promoting content claiming its chemicals were actually safe.

The spreadsheet shows how Monsanto planned to launch a new website full of their talking points and pay to make sure it popped up when people googled Gillam's name.

"I’ve always known that Monsanto didn’t like my work... and worked to pressure editors and silence me," Gillam told the *Guardian*. "But I never imagined a multi-billion dollar company would actually spend so much time and energy and personnel on me. It’s astonishing."

**READ MORE:** [Revealed: how Monsanto's 'intelligence center' targeted journalists and activists](<https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/aug/07/monsanto-fusion-center-journalists-roundup-neil-young>) \[*The Guardian*\]

**More on Monsanto:** *[Monsanto's Court Ruling Marks a Turning Point for Cancer-Causing Weedkiller](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/glyphosate-bayer-monsanto>)*

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)