While Google plans to share data for 2022 soon, it has revealed that in 2021, it
eliminated over 3.4 billion ads, limited over 5.7 billion, and suspended over 5.6 million advertiser accounts.
Google also stated that it had prohibited or restricted advertisements from serving on 1.7 billion publisher pages and had taken broader site-level enforcement action on around 63,000 publisher sites in Nigeria and elsewhere across the world.
These details were revealed yesterday in Lagos at the Google Ads Privacy Immersion
session. The search platform stated that when it takes judgments concerning
advertisements and other monetized material on the platforms, user safety is at the top of the priority list.
It emphasized that thousands of Googlers work around the clock to protect consumers, businesses, and publishers against the harmful use of the company’s advertising network.
According to Google, this important work is being done because an ad-supported
Internet allows everyone to access essential information and diverse content for free
and as the digital world evolves, “our policy development and enforcement strategies evolve with it, helping to prevent abuse while allowing businesses to reach new customers and grow.”
According to the internet giant, 652.1 million advertisements considered to be abusive on the network were eliminated; 286.8 million were adult content; 136.9 million were trademarks; 125.6 million were unsuitable content; 75.1 million were gambling and games; and 60 million were healthcare and pharmaceuticals.
Financial services receive 58.9 million; copyrights receive 44.2 million;
misrepresentation receives 38.1 million; legal requirements receive 32.6 million;
dangerous products and services receive 20.6 million; alcohol receives 9.4 million;
enabling dishonest behavior receives 7.9 million; personalized ads receive 2.2 million; and counterfeit goods receive one million.
Google stated that it has continued to invest in policies, a team of experts, and
enforcement technology to keep ahead of potential dangers, including the
implementation of new policies and the update of current ones. It revealed that in 2021, a multi-strike system for repeat policy violations was implemented, and over 30 policies or restrictions for advertisers and publishers were added or updated, including a policy prohibiting claims that promote climate change denial and a certification for U.S.-based health insurance providers to only allow ads from government exchanges, first-party providers, and licensed third-party brokers.
On the limited commercials, Google noted that while internet advertising may be a great method to contact customers, in sensitive areas, they would work hard to avoid showing ads when and where they could be inappropriate. As a result, they permit limited promotion of the content listed below. These promotions may not be available to every user in every region, and advertisers may be required to complete additional conditions before their ads can run. It should be noted that not all ad products, services, or networks can support limited content.
As a result, the search giant restricted 1.4 billion trademarks, 511.4 million other
restricted businesses, 223 million financial services, 219.3 million health care and
medicines, 128.5 million alcohol, 126.1 million adult content, 108.1 million gambling and games, 105.7 million legal requirements, and 68.6 million copyrights.
