According to Google’s 2022 Ads Safety Report, the search giant blocked or removed over 5.2 billion ads last year, along with restricting over 4.3 billion ads and suspending over 6.7 million advertiser accounts.
Google added that it blocked or restricted ads from serving more than 1.57 billion publisher pages and across more than 143,000 publisher sites – a sizable increase from 63,000 in 2021.
Topping the list of reasons for blocked ads was “Abusing the ad network” with 1.36 billion, followed by trademark issues, legal requirements, and personalized ads. Google also said 17 million ads were blocked related to “sensitive events” in regards to the war in Ukraine.
“Our policies are designed to support a safe and positive experience for our users, which is why we prohibit content that we believe to be harmful to users and the overall advertising ecosystem,” said Google in the report.
Of the 1,57 billion actions taken against publisher pages, sexual content far and away led the list with 1.15 billion, followed by “Dangerous or Derogatory” at 1.66 million.
Top number of ads Google blocked or removed in 2022
- Abusing The Ad Network: 1.36 billion
- Trademark: 562 million
- Legal Requirements: 343 million
- Personalized Ads: 302 million
- Financial Services: 198 million
- Misrepresentation: 142 million
- Gambling and Games: 136 million
- Adult Content: 129 million
- Healthcare and Medicines: 96 million
- Copyrights: 83.7 million
- Inappropriate Content: 51.2 million
- Dangerous Products or Services: 20.6 million
- Sensitive events (war in Ukraine): 17 million
- Enabling Dishonest Behavior: 12.5 million
- Alcohol: 9.2 million
- Counterfeit Goods: 1.3 million
Blocked or restricted ads from serving publisher pages
- Sexual Content: 1.15 billion
- Dangerous or Derogatory: 166 million
- Weapons Promotion and Sales: 110 million
- Shocking Content: 59 million
- Tobacco: 35 million
- Online Gambling: 30 million
- Alcohol Sales: 23 million
- Intellectual Property Abuse: 11.5 million
- Malicious or Unwanted Software: 4.5 million
- Sexually Explicit Content: 2.5 million
Along with the report, Google announced the launch of a new transparency tool, the Ads Transparency Center, a searchable hub of all ads served from verified advertisers across all of our platforms, including Search, Display, and YouTube.
In a blog post, Alejandro Borgia, Director, Product Management, Ads Safety, wrote: “We’re committed to protecting our users by creating a safer, more trustworthy and accountable ad experience.”
You can read the report from Google here
