



Content recommendation ad networks such as Outbrain and Taboola, whose clicky content sprawls across the web, say they found no evidence that Russian ads or other forms of election tampering took place on their platforms during the 2016 election.

Outbrain claims to reach more than 550 million visitors per month via content recommendation modules it places on websites of publishers such as CNN, People, and ESPN. It initially told BuzzFeed News it was “conducting a thorough investigation specific to election tampering and continue[s] to monitor our index."

A day later, company CEO Yaron Galai issued a statement to say it "found no evidence of bad actors using our platform to influence elections."

"Given the seriousness of this issue and out of an abundance of caution, we proactively undertook this effort over the course of many weeks to ensure we got it right. Outbrain has always been dedicated to combating fake content, and we remain vigilant in fighting those who attempt to misuse our platform.”