A reader brings the results of this Google search to our attention, which indicates the National Labor Relations Board is buying Google ads to help workers form unions.

We added the yellow screen. Here’s the ad by itself.

We tried replicating the search but could not generate the same ad. We did get this, however:

Government agencies often buy ads as part of public service campaigns, true. But this is the first time we’ve seen one use Google Adwords, which offers a variety of pricing strategies based on per clicks and search terms.

Medium aside, why is a federal agency using taxpayer dollars to promote the formation of unions? That’s what the first ad does.

UPDATE (1:55 p.m.): LaborUnionReport.com makes the same point, more pungently, “ Tax-Payer Funded, Union-Run NLRB Using Google to Advertise How to Start a Union.”