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SAN FRANCISCO: Google said Thursday (April 30) that its task force dedicated to combating “bad” ads advertising false COVID-19 cures, illegal unemployment benefits and expensive medical supplies had blocked tens of millions of messages.
Google has blocked and eliminated coronavirus-related marketing arguments in recent months for policy breaches, including price extortion and misleading claims, according to Vice President of Privacy and Ad Security Scott Spencer.
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“We have a dedicated COVID-19 task force working 24 hours a day building new detection technology and improving our existing application systems to stop bad actors,” Spencer said in a blog post.
“These concerted efforts are working.”
With health concerns across the globe, protecting against efforts to take advantage of people through pandemic-themed online ads is a priority, according to Spencer.
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Google said it has been closely watching advertising abuse taking advantage of the crisis since the COVID-19 outbreak began.
The deceptive ads have often been the work of “sophisticated actors trying to evade our application systems with advanced tactics,” Spencer said.
He gave the example of a sharp increase in ads offering coveted supplies like inflated-priced face masks designed to attract online orders that are never completed.
READ: Google Increases Support for Verifying COVID-19 Facts
Google, owned by Alphabet, has a clear interest in protecting the integrity of the online advertising platform that is its engine of making money.
Last year, Google blocked and removed 2.7 billion “bad ads” and suspended nearly a million ad accounts for policy violations, according to Spencer.
The California-based internet firm brought together a team last year to track down signs of phishing or tricks regarding clicking on links, reducing the number of such “bad ads” by 50 percent as a result, Spencer said. .
According to the company, Google blocked more than 35 million phishing ads and 19 million “click trick” ads last year.
