Based on materials from Google blog
A free and open web is an invaluable resource for people in general and for business in particular. And advertising plays a key role in providing people with accurate and quality information on the web. However, malicious ads can make any online experience unbearable. What is this advertisement? The one that offers illegally existing products or lures with unrealistic offers. The one that encourages people to leak personal data into the network and infects devices with malware. Thus, such advertising is a threat to users, Google partners and the stability of the open network itself.
Google has a strict policy that regulates acceptable and inappropriate types of ads to protect users from misleading, inappropriate, or harmful ads. They also have a team of engineers, policy experts, product managers, and others who keep the defense against intruders every day, and for many years their activities have made the network more comfortable for you and less comfortable for those who use ad systems in their bad goals.
In 2016, Google eliminated 1.7 billion incidents of advertisements that went against their ad policies, more than double the 2015 rate. If you spend a second in a row to fix each such case, you will need more than 50 years. However, of course, technology allows you to work much faster.
Last year, two key enhancements were made to counter malicious ads. First, the set of rules has been expanded to better protect users from misleading and questionable suggestions. For example, in July, a rule was introduced that allows you to ban advertisements for microloans at huge interest rates. In the six months that have passed since the introduction of this rule, more than 5 million cases of microloan advertising have been eliminated. Second, the technology has been improved to make it possible to track and remove malicious ads even faster. For example, clickable advertisements are disguised as system notifications to force the user to click on them without thinking that they might download malicious software. In 2016, Google systems recognized and neutralized 112 million ads of this type, which is 6 times more than in 2015.
Here are some more examples of malicious ads that Google fought in 2016.
Advertising of goods prohibited by law
One of the most common types of malicious advertisements we find on the web is advertising for illegal products and services. Although there has been a long history of the policy on malicious advertising for medicines, systems have registered an increase in their number on the web in the past year. More than 68 million cases of advertisements that violate health laws were eliminated, up from 12.5 million in 2015.
In addition, there has been an increase in attempts to advertise gambling-related offers without obtaining appropriate regulatory approvals in specific countries. In 2016, more than 17 million cases of malicious advertising that violate gambling laws were detected and eliminated.
In 2016, more than 17 million cases of malicious advertising that violate gambling laws were eliminated
Misleading advertising
To ensure that ads are not misleading, advertisers are required to provide users with comprehensive information to enable them to make informed decisions. Some advertising is designed to collect clicks and views by deliberately misleading users, using deliberately false information. For example, you see on the screen in big red letters: 'Check if you are at risk of contracting a rare, skin-corroding virus!', Or you are offered miraculous pills that allow you to part with three tens of kilograms without getting up from the couch. In 2016, about 80 million cases of malicious advertising based on misleading, deceiving and shocking users were eliminated.
Malicious ads on mobile devices
If you first 'do nothing special' on your phone, and then suddenly, without warning, find yourself in the app store, where you download an application that you have never even heard of, it may be the fault of the self-adverts. In 2015, only a few thousand ad units of this type were eliminated, but in 2016 Google systems recognized and neutralized more than 23,000 cases of self-adverts appearing on their platforms – a significant increase year over year.
Ads that try to cheat the system
Attackers know that advertisements for certain types of products, such as fat burning supplements or microloans, are not allowed by Google's policies, so they try to bypass bans and trick systems to act despite obstacles. Last year, nearly 7 million cases of malicious advertising were detected that were designed to deliberately mislead recognition systems.
2016 saw an increase in advertising masquerading as secular news. This is a new type of fraudulent advertising that tries to bypass system bans in this way. Its creators often use popular topics in headlines – elections, sensational events, names of celebrities. These ads end up looking similar to what news sites offer us. But when the user clicks on the next link about the divorce of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, he will be taken to a site that sells some weight loss products, but he will not learn anything new about the star couple.
In order to fight this type of advertising, it is required to neutralize its creators themselves, to prevent them from starting to promote their advertising again. In 2016, more than 1,300 accounts were blocked from which advertisements disguised as news were posted. Unfortunately, this type of advertising is gaining more and more popularity because people click on such links. A handful of malicious advertisers can produce tons of this stuff. At one time in December 2016, 22 such accounts were blocked, and they were responsible for more than 20 million ad views per week!
More than 1,300 advertising accounts were blocked in 2016
Advertising and benefits from bad sites
When ads are found that run counter to Google's policies, they block it or the advertiser, depending on the type of violation. But sometimes it is also required to block the site involved in advertising (the one that users see by clicking on the advertising link). So, for example, having eliminated more than 5 million cases of advertising microloans over the past year, it was necessary to take action against more than 8,000 sites that advertised microloans.
Here are some examples of typical Google policy violations targeted by malicious sites in 2016:
- Action was taken against 47,000 sites for advertising content and weight loss products.
- More than 15,000 sites were targeted for unwanted software, and 900,000 advertisements containing malicious links were blocked.
- 6,000 websites and 6,000 accounts were blocked from which counterfeit goods, such as fake designer watches, were advertised.
6,000 websites and 6,000 accounts were blocked from which counterfeit goods, such as, for example, designer watches, were advertised
Publishers and website owners use Google's Adsense platform to benefit from displaying ads on their sites, so strict policies are required to keep Google content and search networks safe for advertisers, users and publishers. When a publisher violates the policy, it may be possible to stop displaying ads on their site or even delete their account.
Google has a long-standing policy that prohibits Adsense publishers from displaying ads on their sites that allow people to mislead other people. For example, these are sites where you can buy fake diplomas or other people's term papers. In November, the rules were expanded and a new Adsense content fraudulent policy was introduced. It helps take action against site owners who mislead users about who they are and what their content is. In November-December 2016, 550 sites were checked that aroused suspicions of misleading users – including those disguised as news resources. 340 were prosecuted for violating the policy, and about 200 publishers were permanently banned from using the Google network.
In addition to the above, the company supports industry efforts, such as Coalition for Better Ads, to protect users from malicious online experiences. More malicious ads were eliminated in 2016 than ever, but the fight doesn't stop there. While a company is investing in better threat detection, attackers are investing in more sophisticated schemes to bypass security. All that remains is to keep finding them and fighting them to protect users and allow them to enjoy all the benefits of an open network at a minimum cost.