In a sweeping crackdown on digital ad fraud, Google announced that it banned 39.2 million advertiser accounts in 2024, which is double the number from the previous year. The tech giant credits this substantial increase in enforcement to advances in artificial intelligence, including the use of large language models (LLMs).
Google claims that by combining AI with red flags like business impersonation and illegitimate payment details, Google claims it was able to preemptively block most malicious advertisers before they could serve a single ad. Last year, the company implemented more than 50 AI-driven safety changes across its ad systems to improve early detection and prevention.
Alex Rodriguez, Google's General Manager for Ads Safety, emphasized that despite the AI improvements, human monitoring is still necessary. A team of over a hundred professionals, including Ads Safety, Trust & Safety, and DeepMind researchers, worked together to prevent sophisticated scams, including deepfake ads featuring impersonated public figures.
The results of these efforts were significant. Google announced a 90% decrease in deepfake ad complaints, aided by over 30 policy tweaks and new technical countermeasures. In addition to the 39.2 million suspended accounts, Google removed 1.8 billion ads in the U.S. alone and closed 5 million accounts globally for scam-related violations.
India, the world's second-largest internet market, had 2.9 million accounts suspended and over 247 million ads removed, with the most common offenses being financial fraud, gambling, and trademark abuse.
While Google blocked fewer total advertisements in 2024 (5.1 billion against 5.5 billion in 2023), the company considers this a sign of progress. Fewer rejected ads indicate better early detection and less fraud making it to the platform at all.
However, large-scale enforcement raises fairness concerns. Google stated that all suspensions involve an appeals process with human review, and in 2024, it planned to improve openness about why accounts were penalized.
As ad fraud evolves, Google's strategy combines AI speed and human judgment, creating a new standard for digital platform safety.