In total, Google removed 3.4 billion ads, restricted more than 5.7 billion ads, and disabled more than 5.6 million advertiser accounts, according to its 2021 annual ad safety report released Wednesday. In a blog post, Scott Spencer, vice president of product management, ad privacy and security, said Google stepped up its enforcement strategy last year.
In addition to updating policies for businesses and publishers, the tech giant has implemented a new three-strike rule to address deceptive practices, inappropriate content, dangerous products, and more. Repeat offenders will be penalized, and a third strike will result in account suspension.
Of the more than 3 billion ads removed, more than 650 million were removed for abusing ad networks, while more than 280 million were for adult content violations. Other reasons for removal relate to trademarks, gambling, alcohol, health care and misrepresentation. Google also blocked inappropriate ads from appearing on nearly 2 billion publisher pages, and more than 600,000 individual publisher sites received enforcement action.
The news comes after the company announced updates to its online security measures, through which people can ask to have their personal information removed from search engines. Users can now ask Google to delete medical records, personal contact information and other identifiable details.