According to a recent disclosure by Google, it removed and blocked 348 million advertisements from its platform in 2022 for violating its policies.
The company disclosed this in its recently released 2022 Ads Safety Report. According to the report, Google blocked 142 million ads for violating its misrepresentation policy and 198 million ads for violating its financial services policy.
Sophisticated Scammers Continue to Operate
Despite its efforts to combat scamAAs on its platform, Google noted that bad actors continue to create new accounts and employ new tactics to scam people.
The report revealed that scammers are increasingly operating on a greater scale and with more sophistication to push fraudulent ads on the platform.
Google said that it has identified coordinated threats by scammers creating thousands of accounts to spread malware by impersonating popular software brands.
It quickly put additional restrictions in place to block their ability to harm consumers.
Google took swift action against bad actors on its platform by blocking and removing tens of thousands of malicious advertisements and disabling associated accounts within a month.
Expansion of Financial Services Certification Program
Google expanded its financial services certification program in 2022 to combat financial scams.
Advertisers are now required to show authorization from their local regulator before promoting their products and services.
The program was rolled out in 11 countries, including the UK, Australia, and Singapore. Google has plans to expand this program in the future.
Measures Against Misinformation
Google implemented significant measures to combat misinformation and unreliable claims within its advertising ecosystem.
The company has policies against harmful health claims, demonstrably false claims that could undermine trust and participation in elections, and climate change denial.
In 2022, Google took action against policy-violating ads by blocking them from running on more than 300,000 publisher pages and prevented over 24 million policy-violating ads from being served.
Moreover, Google prevented more than 51.2 million advertisements with inappropriate content, such as hate speech, violence, and misleading health claims, from running on its platform, and removed them.
It also took down 20.6 million ads promoting hazardous products or services, like weapons and explosives.
Google Ad Safety Report
The Google Ad Safety Report is an annual summary of how Google enhanced user safety in the ad ecosystem in the preceding year.
The report highlights the significance of preserving trust in the online advertising ecosystem and emphasizes the need for ongoing efforts to fight bad actors and ensure a secure and safe online experience for all users.