Google has released its Ad Safety Report 2022, which highlights the company’s efforts to combat fraudulent and harmful ads. In the report, Google stated that it removed 5.2 billion ads, restricted over 4.3 million ads, and suspended more than 6.7 million advertiser accounts in 2022. The company also blocked or restricted ads on over 1.57 billion publisher pages across 143,000 sites, compared to 63,000 in 2021.
The ads removed by Google were found to be in violation of policies such as trademark violations, legal requirements, and abuse of the ad network. Ads related to adult content, dangerous products or services, and sensitive events like the war in Ukraine were also removed. Meanwhile, the restricted ads mainly consisted of businesses with local legal requirements, financial services, adult content, and gambling and games.
The blocked publisher pages were related to categories such as sexual content, weapons promotions and sales, tobacco, and online gambling. Google acknowledged the rising incidence of fraudulent activities and stated that it is committed to combating such instances on its platform.
Despite its efforts to counter fraud, Google said that bad actors were increasingly operating on a larger scale. The company said that it urgently takes action whenever it identifies such threats. In 2022, Google blocked or removed over 142 million ads for violating its misrepresentation policy and 198 million for violating its financial services policy.
Along with the Ad Safety Report, Google also announced the launch of its Ad Transparency Center. The new offering will allow users to learn more about the ads they see on Search, YouTube, and Display quickly.