Google lifts lid on how it stops ‘bad ads’ that flout its policies
Google has lifted the lid on some of its methods for cracking down on “bad ads”, which violate its policies, as it looks to reinforce its intolerance for fraudulent ad activities.
The internet giant has released details showing the measures it took last year to combat counterfeiters, which led to it banning 214,000 advertisers and disabling more than 524 million bad ads.
It banned a total 7,000 advertisers for promoting counterfeit goods – down from 14,000 in 2013, and 82,000 in 2012 – a reduction which Google attributes to its advancement in policing this kind of illegal activity.
Weight-loss scams were also rife last year, according to Google, with many advertisers selling dietary supplements at times using “outrageous” claims to deceive consumers.
“In 2014 TrustInAds.org, a group which includes Google, AOL, Yahoo and others, released a report showing that we had collectively removed or rejected more than 2.5 million ads related to weight loss and dietary supplements over the past 18 months said Vikaram Gupta, director, of Google Ads Engineering in a blog post.
“Online advertising helps fund content and businesses on the web, from small family-owned shops to large publishers. While online advertising helps the web to work for all of us, this ecosystem can also attract bad actors that aim to misuse ads for harmful or deceptive purposes.
"We work hard to keep our advertising ecosystem clean for users, advertisers, and publishers, and continue to invest substantial resources to stop bad advertising practices. We have a team of analysts who work around the clock to protect users, and continue to hone our detection technology to identify bad ads and stop bad actors as it’s a vital part of keeping our ads ecosystem clean, added Gupta.
He also referenced various rental property ads which were masquerading as legitimate ads, but which were later identified as scams
“Our systems learn from incidents like these, helping us more effectively catch and remove bad ads and advertisers.
“For the past several years, we’ve shared insight into our efforts to fight bad actors on the web. Today, we’re sharing new data on how we fought bad advertising practices over the past year. Overall, we disabled more than 524 million bad ads and banned more than 214,000 advertisers in 2014. While this represents a tiny fraction of the total ads on our platform - the vast majority of advertisers follow our policies and act responsibly - we continue to remain vigilant to protect users against bad advertising practices,” added Gupta.
