GOP Unity Forces Google to Back Down

WinRed exists not only to process contributions but to protect the Republican Party’s ability to raise money and reach voters online. Our shield logo is deliberately a symbol of defense against outside forces that threaten GOP campaigns.

The latest incident involving Google is a clear example of why WinRed matters: A shared platform allows Republicans to identify issues, act together, and deliver results quickly. Fragmentation dilutes leverage, and unity creates power.

The Story With Google: 

Google’s inboxing bias was highlighted in a recent study from NC State University that found Gmail marked 59% more Republican campaign emails as spam than Democratic emails. And despite Republican staffers repeatedly moving their candidate’s emails from spam to the inbox within their own email account, Gmail continued to filter these emails as spam. 

These issues recently became a central point once again. From the NYPost: “...fundraising pitches from ActBlue, a platform for Democrats, were delivered untouched, according to Targeted Victory.”

It was discovered that Google relies on third-party services like Spamhaus and SURBL BV, which have labeled Republican content as "pro-Trump political warmongering", leading to filtering and blocking. Spamhaus is based in Andorra, while SURBL BV is based in the Netherlands.

“It’s outrageous that Google relies on a foreign entity to limit US speech during elections. That’s foreign interference, plain and simple.” - WinRed CEO, Ryan Lyk

After facing Republican pressure, Google was forced to back down, scrapping the blacklist and eventually committing to no longer using the foreign third-party companies, according to a letter from Google to FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson and obtained by The Daily Wire.

WinRed’s Role

Our CEO, Ryan Lyk, recently discussed this on Eric Wilson’s Campaign Trend podcast:

“We exist to protect the party. That’s why we chose the shield. That’s why WinRed is such a critical piece of party infrastructure. Because we all operate through the WinRed PAC, and the PAC serves as the merchant of record for all the federal candidates. It makes it really difficult for Big Tech companies to target individual campaigns. 

If you want to go after a random Congressional candidate’s donation processing, you’re also picking a fight with the 7,000 other campaigns that use the platform, including President Trump, Speaker Johnson, Majority Leader Thune, etc. 

… There’s strength in numbers, and that’s really what WinRed brings to the party and why this is so important.”

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