Gabbard, a Democrat from Hawaii who has called for the breakup of big tech companies, was among the top search topics on Google during and after the debate. Gabbard's campaign decided after the debate that "now is the time we can get our message out there by buying search ads,'' said attorney Brian Dunne, who is representing Gabbard. But "just as her Google traffic was spiking, her Google ad account was taken offline,'' he said.

Google told the campaign the account was suspended "for violations of billing practices" and advertising practices, Dunne said. But Dunne said there was no change of banks or financial issue with the campaign's account. And when asked by the campaign about the validity of the suspension, the company then told the campaign there was "a violation of the terms of service.''