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Google now has the fake app ads plaguing the web in its sights

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By John McCarthy, Opinion Editor

February 4, 2016 | 2 min read

Google is looking to take on the many deceptive ads cluttering the web untruthfully funnelling users towards unwanted updates, downloads or even malicious software.

With the update to its Safe Browsing initiative, Google hopes to stamp out misleading ‘download’ and ‘play’ ads especially prevalent on torrent and video streaming websites.

Google and Chrome users will reportedly be afforded greater protection from social engineering scams by banning ads that “Pretend to act, or look and feel, like a trusted entity - like your own device or browser, or the website itself” or “Try to trick you into doing something you’d only do for a trusted entity - like sharing a password or calling tech support.”

The update will see sites enabling the use of such ads flagged up by Google warning browsers that there is a “deceptive site ahead”.

Google hopes the drive will help bad ads from installing unwanted software or seizing personal information such as passwords, phone numbers, or credit cards.

The news comes after Google ad boss Sridhar Ramaswamy promised to 'bust bad ads' in January.

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