Google blocked over 5.5B ads, suspended 12.7M advertisers in 2023 - Report

Google has released its annual Ads Safety Report detailing the company’s progress in upholding advertiser and publisher policies to ensure a safe and trustworthy ad experience for users.

The report emphasizes the growing impact of generative AI in combating online scams and maintaining a healthy ad-supported ecosystem.

"Billions of people rely on Google products for relevant and trustworthy information, including ads," said Duncan Lennox, VP & GM of Ads Privacy and Safety at Google.

"Our Ads Safety Report highlights the progress we've made in upholding our advertiser and publisher policies, while acknowledging the ongoing challenges."

According to the report, Google blocked or removed over 5.5 billion ads for violating policies; that amounts to more than 9,000 ads per minute.

It also states that over 6.9 billion ads were restricted, while more than 12.7 million advertiser accounts were suspended for egregious policy violations, nearly double the amount suspended in 2022.

Further, ads from over 2.1 billion pages were removed last year, and 31 policies added or updated for both advertisers and publishers.

The tech giant, in a statement to newsrooms, said it utilized AI-powered machine learning to detect and block billions of malicious ads.

It however noted that generative AI's advanced reasoning capabilities, specifically Large Language Models (LLMs), allow for faster and more precise enforcement, especially against complex policies like those targeting misleading financial claims.

“Google identified a rise in scams across online platforms in 2023. To counter these threats, the company implemented a ‘Limited Ads Serving’ policy that restricts the reach of unfamiliar advertisers during a ‘get-to-know-you’ period,” read the statement.

“Additionally, Google formed a dedicated task force to address a surge in deep fake scam ads targeting users with the likeness of public figures. Overall, Google blocked or removed millions of ads violating misrepresentation, financial services, and ad network abuse policies.”