Google Removes 5.5 Billion Malicious Ads, Suspends 700,000+ Offending Advertisers

Google has announced the removal of 5.5 billion malicious advertisements and the suspension of over 700,000 offending advertiser accounts in 2024, according to its recently released Ads Safety Report.

This accomplishment underscores Google’s ongoing commitment to fighting digital ad fraud, abuse, and policy violations — and demonstrates the growing power of AI in protecting both users and businesses online.

Harnessing AI for Smarter Enforcement

Bad actors on the web constantly evolve their tactics, attempting to exploit advertising platforms with scams, misleading content, and policy violations.

In response, Google has significantly ramped up its investment in advanced Artificial Intelligence and Large Language Models (LLMs).

Unlike earlier machine learning approaches, these cutting-edge AI models require less training data and are more agile in detecting new threats, distinguishing between legitimate businesses and scammers.

Throughout 2024, Google deployed over 50 enhancements to its AI-driven enforcement systems.

These improvements enabled Google to process billions of ads daily, automatically flagging and removing policy-violating content before it could reach consumers.

Notably, AI was instrumental in detecting infractions on publisher pages, with 97% of enforcement actions powered by these advanced models.

Among this year’s most aggressive fraud trends was the rise of public figure impersonation scams. These schemes often used AI-generated imagery or audio to falsely affiliate with celebrities, deceiving users into fraudulent schemes.

Google responded by assembling a rapid-response team of experts to update its misrepresentation policies and strengthen detection measures.

As a result, more than 700,000 advertiser accounts engaged in such activities were permanently suspended, leading to a dramatic 90% decline in user reports of celebrity-related scams.

Google also cracked down on broader ad-based scams, blocking or removing 415 million scam-related ads and suspending 5 million accounts for related policy violations.

The identification and verification of advertiser identities, now covering over 200 countries and territories, have further prevented repeat offenders from re-entering the platform.

Google’s enforcement efforts extended beyond advertisers to publishers, where the company took action against 1.3 billion web pages for violations ranging from sexual and shocking content to malicious software.

These actions, combined with ongoing policy updates and improved transparency requirements for sensitive ads (like election-related advertising), are part of Google’s broader strategy to maintain a healthy, trustworthy, and ad-supported internet.

As digital threats continue to evolve, Google asserts that its focus on AI-driven solutions, robust policy enforcement, and cross-industry collaboration will remain central to protecting users, brands, and the open web for years to come.