Google Says AI Is Making Ads Safer

Google recently released its annual 2023 Ads Safety Report to update the public on its work in “enforcing our advertiser and publisher policies” and outlining its steps to “maintaining a healthy ad-supported internet.”

With the rise of Generative AI, new and evolved risks have emerged when it comes to the advertising business. However Google has also leveraged GenAI to improve how it combats bad actors in the advertising space.

Google has used machine learning for years to identify advertisements and advertisers that do not follow Google policies. GenAI has allowed Google to further expand its automatic detection capabilities with the ability to analyze content against more complex policies.

In 2023, Google not only implemented GenAI to support its effort but also adapted its policies in front of the ever-changing landscape of how bad actors attempt to dupe users and legitimate businesses.

With these updates, Google “blocked or removed 206.5 million advertisements for violating our misrepresentation policy, which includes many scam tactics.” Beyond that, it also blocked or removed more than 270 million advertisements that violated Google’s financial services policy and more than 1 billion that violated Google’s policy related to abuses of the ad network.

In total, Google was able to block more than 5.5 billion ads, a small increase compared to 2022. It also blocked 12.7 million advertiser accounts, nearly double the number compared to 2022.

The tech giant has put a particular focus on election ads that stipulates all ads must include a “paid for by” disclosure and will appear in its transparency guidelines for advertisers. In 2023 Google removed more than 7.3 election advertisements that did not successfully complete the verification process while successfully adding more than 5,000 new election advertisers following its verification process.

Google is continually adapting to the market, “developing new policies, strengthening our enforcement systems, deepening cross-industry collaboration.” Last year, Google published 31 updates to its policies, and going forward it says “we’ll continue to dedicate extensive resources, making significant investments in detection technology and partnering with organizations like the Global Anti-Scam Alliance.”