Google details 'bad adverts' eliminations in 2016

Writing on a Google topics blog Wednesday on “How we fought bad ads, sites and scammers in 2016” Google director Scott Spencer revealed some interesting facts and figures:

* In 2016 Google removed 1.7 billion unacceptable adverts – a major increase on the 780 million in the preceding year;

* Just 17 million of those were gambling related and “without proper authorisation from regulators in countries in which they operate”;

* 68 million adverts were in contravention of Google healthcare policies, up 500 percent on the preceding year;

* 80 million adverts were found to be “deceiving, misleading and shocking users,” including clickbait disguised as medical information;

* The incidence of deceptive “trick to click” adverts such as system software warnings that persuade users to click through malware downloads, increased by 600 percent to 112 million;

* The use of what Google defines as “self-clicking adverts” on mobile platforms rose massively from low numbers in 2015 to 23,000 in 2016; these are ads that send users to app stores where downloading begins without users’ approval or permission;

* 7 million adverts removed for unspecified ruses designed to by-pass the search engine giant’s detection systems;

* 1,300 accounts shuttered for using “editorial” style articles on topical issues which lead users to questionable commercial products rather than bona fide news – aka “tabloid cloaking”.

Read the full blog article here: https://blog.google/topics/ads/how-we-fought-bad-ads-sites-and-scammers-2016/