Google blocked over 5 billion ads in 2024 amid rise in AI-powered scams

Google blocked 5.1 billion ads and suspended more than 39.2 million advertiser accounts in 2024, according to its 2024 Ads Safety Report released this week. The company says the increasing enforcement activity is caused by the growing threat of AI-generated content, impersonation scams, and abuse of its ad platform. In particular, Google highlighted the use of generative AI tools to create deepfake video impersonations of celebrities and public figures to promote scams, which in the BleepingComputer experience are commonly investment and cryptocurrency scams. As a result, Google says it permanently suspended over 700,000 advertiser accounts for policy violations related to AI-driven impersonation scams. "To fight back, we quickly assembled a dedicated team of over 100 experts to analyze these scams and develop effective countermeasures, such as updating our Misrepresentation policy to suspend advertisers that promote these scams," explains Google's 2024 Ads Safety Report. "As a re ... Read full article.