- Google 2024 Ads Safety Report says it blocked 5.1 billion bad ads
- It also blocked millions of advertiser accounts
- Google notes that detection accuracy is improved thanks to AI
Google blocked more than five billion bad ads in 2024 and suspended nearly 40 million advertisement accounts involved in fraudulent behavior in what was apparently a bumper year for scammers.
In his security report from 2024 ads, Google outlined how bad ads have really started in recent months, because of thanks to the progress of generative artificial intelligence (Genai).
However, Google also uses AI to improve its deception and apparently – it works.
Prohibition of ad accounts
Google’s proactive measures in 2024 were impressive. The company blocked or removed either 5.1 billion ads that violated Google Ads policies. Furthermore, the search engine suspended 39.2 million advertiser accounts, which prevented many ads from reaching consumers in the first place.
As a result, the number of stopped bad ads did not grow years to year but remained relatively stable. Last year, Google removed 5.5 billion bad ads and the fall appears to be due to Google banning significantly more advertising accounts (12.7 million).
The company is also said to have banned more than 700,000 advertising accounts for political violations in connection with AI-driven imitation fraud.
“To fight back, we quickly gathered a dedicated team of over 100 experts to analyze these fraud and develop effective countermeasures, such as updating our erroneous representative policy to suspend advertisers who promote these fraud,” the Google said in the report.
“As a result, we were able to permanently suspend over 700,000 insulting advertising accounts. This led to a 90% decrease in reports of this kind of scam -ad last year. While we are encouraged by this progress, we continue to work to prevent these fraud.”
Google seems to be heavily invested in AI for scanning and detection. It implemented more than 50 improvements to its large language models (LLMs), enabling more efficient and precise enforcement.
Most of the AI-driven bad ads were about deep-faced celebrities.
Via Bleeping computer
