Google Removes 5.2 Billion Ads, Over 4.3 Million Ads Restricted for Violating its Policies

Giant tech company Google in its Ads Safety Report 2022 revealed it removed 5.2 billion ads, restricted over 4.3 million ads, and suspended over 6.7 million advertiser accounts in 2022 for violating its ads policies.

The company also stated that it has blocked and restricted ads from serving over 1.57 billion publisher pages across over 1,43,000 publisher sites compared to 63,000 in 2021.

Reports reveal that the 5.2 billion ads that were removed violated Google’s policy which includes misleading financial ads, dangerous products, and services, trademark violations, counterfeit goods, sensitive events about the Russian-Ukraine war, etc.

On the other hand, the over 4.3 million ads contained unacceptable content such as copyrights, alcohol, financial services, healthcare and medicines, adult content, gambling, local legal requirements, and restricted businesses.

Speaking on the report, Google Ads safety and privacy director Alejandro Borgia said, “Bad actors use online advertising to cause harm. We are committed to keeping you safe online by building products that are secure by default, private by design and put you in control. This promise extends to your online ad experience, which is why we are committed to blocking or removing bad advertisements.

“To create safe ads for users, we have updated 29 advertiser and publisher policies. This policy creation cycle is continuous and as we detect new issues that are emerging on the internet, we are constantly refining our policies and creating new policies when necessary. We will continue to invest in policies our team experts and enforcement technology to stay ahead of potential threats”.

Investors King understands that Google is also rolling out an Ads transparency center or a searchable hub for all ads from verified advertisers where users can see what they have run on the platform, the formats, and more.

It is interesting to note that there have been incessant complaints from users stating that Google’s search results are increasingly stuffed with paid ads, and they expressed concerns that spam sites are getting better at pushing themselves up in search results by gaming the company’s algorithms. Users disclosed that using the site was becoming less helpful and more annoying even as it remains the primary tool more than 4 billion people use to search the internet.

Looking ahead into 2023, with the first quarter (Q1) almost over, Google has revealed that it is committed to providing a safe and trustworthy ads experiment for users, which it disclosed is the company’s critical mission to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. The giant tech company further promises to stay diligent in its efforts to combat abuse across its platform while helping advertisers and publishers grow their businesses.