2023 Google Ads Safety Report Summary

​Google is dedicated to ensuring a safe and reliable online experience for users and businesses. They have a team working tirelessly to establish and enforce effective policies for advertisers and publishers. These policies aim to prevent abuse while supporting the growth of publishers and businesses. Google continuously invests in policy improvements to adapt to the evolving digital landscape.

In 2022, Google introduced or updated 29 policies for advertisers and publishers. They expanded their financial services verification program to 10 new countries and enhanced protections for teenagers. Through their policies and enforcement, Google removed over 5.2 billion ads, restricted over 4.3 billion ads, and suspended more than 6.7 million advertiser accounts. They also took action against over 1.5 billion publisher pages and over 143,000 publisher sites that violated their policies. Google employs a combination of human reviews and automated systems powered by artificial intelligence and machine learning to enforce their policies at such a large scale.

Fraud and scams are a growing concern, and Google is committed to combating them. They expanded their financial services certification program, requiring advertisers to demonstrate authorization from local regulators. Google aims to provide an extra layer of security against fraudsters and protect people from financial scams. However, bad actors are becoming more sophisticated, using tactics to evade detection. Google responds swiftly to identify and counter coordinated threats. For example, they recently tackled a campaign of scammers spreading malware by impersonating popular software brands.

To combat misinformation and harmful content, Google has implemented policies against false claims, harmful health claims, climate change denial, hate speech, violence, and dangerous products or services. They blocked ads from running on over 300,000 publisher pages that violated these policies and removed millions of policy-violating ads. Google also prioritizes providing reliable information about election ads and expanded their verification and transparency program for election ads.

Following the start of the war in Ukraine, Google promptly prohibited ads that exploit, dismiss, or condone the war. They also paused most commercial activities in Russia and implemented policies to block ads related to the war in Ukraine and state-funded media sites.

Child safety is a top priority for Google, and they have implemented measures to ensure a safe online environment for kids and teens. They have blocked ads targeting young children and filtered mature ad categories. Google extended these protections to all users under the age of 18 globally, blocking ad targeting based on age, gender, and interests. They also prohibit specific ad categories for people under 18.

Google is committed to empowering users with more information and control over their ad experience. They launched My Ad Center, allowing users to control the types of ads they see and limit ads from sensitive categories. Google also verifies advertiser identities and provides information about advertisers through advertiser pages and the Ads Transparency Center.

Looking ahead to 2023, Google will continue their efforts to combat abuse across their platforms while supporting advertisers and publishers in growing their businesses.