Google was busier than ever in 2015, claiming that it shut down relentless spammers and other bad guys who spread malware and 'trick-to-click' ads, which mislead users into clicking them.
The scourge of spam, clickbait and phishing attempts that has plagued the Web for years is getting worse. Google says it disabled more than 780 million "bad ads" globally last year, a 49 percent increase over 2014, according to a new Google report. The company said it shut down 524 million misleading or potentially harmful ads in 2014 and removed 350 million bad ads in 2013. For perspective, it would take an individual nearly 25 years to look at the 780 million ads Google removed last year for just one second each, according to Google.
Bad ads include ads for counterfeit products, misleading or unapproved pharmaceuticals, weight loss scams, phishing ploys, unwanted software and "trick-to-click" cons, in which ads "mislead or trick people into interacting with them." If the past years' trend continues, Google's algorithms and its team of more than 1,000 staffers dedicated to killing spam will be even busier in 2016, and they could disable more than a billion junky ads.
Google also said it suspended more than 10,000 sites and 18,000 ad accounts for attempting to sell counterfeits goods, including Gucci handbags and Ray-Ban sunglasses.
Trick-to-click ads were among the worst offenders in 2015. Google rejected more than 17 million of them last year. The company also did away with more than 12.5 million ads that violated its healthcare and medicines policy. Most of these shoddy pharmaceutical ads hawked drugs that weren't legally approved or made false claims.
Google said it blocked almost 7,000 sites for ads that hosted phishing attempts and more than 10,000 sites for offering unwanted or potentially-harmful software, which resulted in a 99-percent reduction of unwanted downloads via Google ads, according to the report. Ads for drugs that promised dramatic weight loss were a major pain point for users in 2015, and Google said it deleted more than 30,000 sites for such ads.
The company stopped showing ads in more than 25,000 mobile apps and rejected more than 1.4 million ad-account applicants for failing to follow the its ad policies. And users sent Google 4 billion feedback submissions to report various issues with ads last year, according to the report.
In the future, Google said it plans to continue the war on bad ads with refined restrictions on suspect weight loss products and new protections against malware and bots.
In our fifth and final episode, we delve into the relationship between retailer and supplier and how it drives and influences launch marketing strategies and success. To do that, we’re joined by Campbell Davies, group general manager of Associated Retailers Limited, and Kristin Viccars, marketing director A/NZ, Apex Tool Group. Also featured are Five by Five Global managing director, Matt Lawton, and CMO’s Nadia Cameron.
OK, so you’re probably thinking: “Here comes another article to badger me about living in my bubble.” And also, “I bet this bubble-bashing piece will go on to explain how I can achieve better results through some heady dose of new life experiences, new routines and annoyingly different opinions on social media.”
Every day, there are new predictions and studies on the future of work, the state of the economy and the unfolding global pandemic. All of which creates uncertainty and heightens the imperative of effective leadership.
I've worked in brand and marketing for more than 20 years. But there’s one area where I’ve found myself going around in circles and I must admit I'm becoming increasingly confused.
Great read. I agree that it should be a perfect balance between interacting with your customers and knowing your brand. As a business, yo...
Caroline Scott
7 ways CMOs can improve their customer engagement game
Very true. Team development helps improve collaboration among the team members. I was able to improve my team's collaboration skills by t...
Quent Sinder
Why empowering others can help make you a great leader
CRM is a very good software that can help you succeed in your business. In my company, this system has allowed me to improve customer rel...
Anna Janicka
Sensis rebrands to Thryv and brings business software to Australian SMBs
AI Leasing Assistants have finally arrived for the multifamily industry. With so many to choose from it can be hard to figure out which i...
Alice Labs Pte. Ltd.
CMO's top 8 martech stories for the week - 6 May 2021
Nowadays, when everything is being done online, it is good to know that someone is trying to make an improvement. As a company, you are o...
Marcus
10 lessons Telstra has learnt through its T22 transformation