Google’s ads safety report for 2021 is out and the results are astonishing as they highlight how the company blocked 3.4 billion ads and tripled the number of account suspensions for its advertisers.
The report which was published this week for public viewing also delineated which bad ads were removed in terms of category. And that’s when Google unveiled the list of top 3 that created the most havoc.
The first position went to ads that abused the network, which stood at a staggering 652 million. Next in line came adult content whose figures rose to 287 million. And last but not least, the tech giant recorded trademark related issues at 137 million.
But how exactly do these statistics compare with the results seen in the previous years?
Well in 2020, the company blocked nearly 3.1 billion ads, while in 2019, the figures stood at 2.7 billion.
Last year, Microsoft showed how it had removed around 3 billion ads for 2021. Therefore if we combine both of these results, we get a staggering figure of almost 6.5 billion advertisements for the previous year.
But alarming reports speaking about how 5.7 billion ad accounts underwent restriction were definitely an eye-opener for many tech experts. These advertisements all fell into a number of leading themes. Either they were sensitive legally or had issues culturally. Let’s take a look at the breakup now.
Trademarks included nearly 1.4 billion ads
Other firms that were restricted had 511 million ads
Financial firms had 223 million ads
Healthcare and pharmaceutical companies had 219 million ads
The Alcohol industry had 128.5 million ads
Content related to the Adult industry proved to have 126 million ads
Legal ads estimated at 105.7 million ads
Ads for copyrights were 68.6 million
The gambling and gaming industry had 108 million ads
Google says there were plenty of bad actors on the rise that tried to function with greater sophistication this year than previous. Similarly, they claim they were working at a grander scale than anticipated for this year, trying their best to evade the system’s detection and security maneuvers in place.
One perfect example of that notion was related to thousands of fake accounts being made by those actors in one go. These people made use of cloaking and even went as far as scrambling text in a deceptive manner. Hence, Google’s reviewers were now viewing ads that were very different from what was being shown to the company’s users.
Another shocking point outlined in the report was related to Google blocking more than 1.7 billion pages of publishers. They were forced to take immediate on-site action for a staggering 63,000 pages last year.
Out of those, the top three topics that saw Google taking the most action were related to the promotion of drugs and weapons, sexual content, and even derogatory terms. But another major startling point was how much misinformation spread there was on the web relating to COVID-19.
This included false information about vaccines and COVID-19 testing kits and how many harmful ads came with inaccurate claims that could put so many viewers’ health at risk. At the same time, the prices of such materials were also artificially inflated to trick consumers into buying critical supplies at high rates.
Google says that ever since the pandemic began, it has already blocked nearly 106 million ads pertaining to COVID-19.
While this new report was showcasing the trends from last year, Google also gave a small insight about this year and the constant challenges it continues to face, thanks to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
Currently, it has managed to block more than 8 million ads relating to the war so far. Previously, the tech giant shed light on how it was putting a halt on Russian ads and those related to the country’s national advertisers, outlining its solidarity with Ukraine.
The company continues to speak about how 60 media outlets were blocked in total from Russia.
But why does this matter to all of us? Well, bad actors are extremely harmful to the search engine. The more fake advertisers out there, the greater the threat real advertisers face as the former wish to reach the same target market.
We believe this is another reason why Google is pushing so hard verification of its advertisers to avoid such malpractices.
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The report which was published this week for public viewing also delineated which bad ads were removed in terms of category. And that’s when Google unveiled the list of top 3 that created the most havoc.
The first position went to ads that abused the network, which stood at a staggering 652 million. Next in line came adult content whose figures rose to 287 million. And last but not least, the tech giant recorded trademark related issues at 137 million.
But how exactly do these statistics compare with the results seen in the previous years?
Well in 2020, the company blocked nearly 3.1 billion ads, while in 2019, the figures stood at 2.7 billion.
Last year, Microsoft showed how it had removed around 3 billion ads for 2021. Therefore if we combine both of these results, we get a staggering figure of almost 6.5 billion advertisements for the previous year.
But alarming reports speaking about how 5.7 billion ad accounts underwent restriction were definitely an eye-opener for many tech experts. These advertisements all fell into a number of leading themes. Either they were sensitive legally or had issues culturally. Let’s take a look at the breakup now.
Trademarks included nearly 1.4 billion ads
Other firms that were restricted had 511 million ads
Financial firms had 223 million ads
Healthcare and pharmaceutical companies had 219 million ads
The Alcohol industry had 128.5 million ads
Content related to the Adult industry proved to have 126 million ads
Legal ads estimated at 105.7 million ads
Ads for copyrights were 68.6 million
The gambling and gaming industry had 108 million ads
Google says there were plenty of bad actors on the rise that tried to function with greater sophistication this year than previous. Similarly, they claim they were working at a grander scale than anticipated for this year, trying their best to evade the system’s detection and security maneuvers in place.
One perfect example of that notion was related to thousands of fake accounts being made by those actors in one go. These people made use of cloaking and even went as far as scrambling text in a deceptive manner. Hence, Google’s reviewers were now viewing ads that were very different from what was being shown to the company’s users.
Another shocking point outlined in the report was related to Google blocking more than 1.7 billion pages of publishers. They were forced to take immediate on-site action for a staggering 63,000 pages last year.
Out of those, the top three topics that saw Google taking the most action were related to the promotion of drugs and weapons, sexual content, and even derogatory terms. But another major startling point was how much misinformation spread there was on the web relating to COVID-19.
This included false information about vaccines and COVID-19 testing kits and how many harmful ads came with inaccurate claims that could put so many viewers’ health at risk. At the same time, the prices of such materials were also artificially inflated to trick consumers into buying critical supplies at high rates.
Google says that ever since the pandemic began, it has already blocked nearly 106 million ads pertaining to COVID-19.
While this new report was showcasing the trends from last year, Google also gave a small insight about this year and the constant challenges it continues to face, thanks to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
Currently, it has managed to block more than 8 million ads relating to the war so far. Previously, the tech giant shed light on how it was putting a halt on Russian ads and those related to the country’s national advertisers, outlining its solidarity with Ukraine.
The company continues to speak about how 60 media outlets were blocked in total from Russia.
But why does this matter to all of us? Well, bad actors are extremely harmful to the search engine. The more fake advertisers out there, the greater the threat real advertisers face as the former wish to reach the same target market.
We believe this is another reason why Google is pushing so hard verification of its advertisers to avoid such malpractices.
