Google Suspends 2.9 Million Ad Accounts in India Amid Surge in Policy Violations and AI-Driven Scams
In a major step toward ensuring digital ad safety, Alphabet’s Google has announced the suspension of over 2.9 million advertiser accounts in India in 2024, citing multiple policy violations. The action is part of the company’s broader efforts to combat harmful and deceptive advertising content across its platforms.
The data, released in Google’s Ads Safety Report 2024, highlights a global crackdown on misleading ads and policy-violating accounts. Worldwide, Google removed 5.1 billion ads, restricted over 9.1 billion others, and permanently suspended 39.2 million advertiser accounts for breaching its advertising rules.
Why Did Google Crack Down?
A significant driver behind this sweeping action is the rising tide of AI-generated impersonation scams. These scams, often leveraging the identities of celebrities, influencers, and public figures, have misled millions of users globally. Google noted a marked increase in such deceptive ad formats, prompting the company to strengthen its ad safety systems and expand its fraud detection capabilities.
“The company adapted its defences against ever-evolving scams, notably the rise of AI-generated public figure impersonation ads,” Google stated in its report.
To respond effectively, Google deployed a dedicated team of over 100 experts, focused on policy enforcement, content review, and technical improvements. The team made more than 50 enhancements to Google’s large language models (LLMs), enabling better detection of suspicious signals during ad creation and account registration.
AI-Powered Detection Leads the Way
Ironically, while AI is being used to generate scams, it’s also becoming Google’s strongest weapon to fight back. The company leaned heavily on its own AI tools to quickly detect and remove deceptive content, as well as to identify unusual patterns in ad activity.
Thanks to these upgrades, Google claims to have seen a 90% decrease in user reports related to scam ads in 2024—a major indicator of success in its ad safety efforts.
Top 5 Policy Violations Behind Suspensions
According to the report, the following were the most common violations that led to account suspensions:
- Misleading or fraudulent financial services
- Trademark infringement
- Circumventing Google’s ad systems
- Misuse of personalised advertising features
- Violations related to gambling and gaming content
These violations not only breach Google’s ad policies but also pose serious risks to users, especially in financial and privacy-related areas.
A Safer Digital Experience for Indian Users
India, being one of the world’s largest digital advertising markets, is a key focus for Google’s safety operations. The suspension of 2.9 million Indian ad accounts demonstrates the scale of the issue and Google’s aggressive stance on cleaning up its platform.
This comprehensive action marks one of Google’s largest ad clean-up operations to date and underscores its commitment to transparency, user protection, and ad quality.
For Indian users and legitimate advertisers, this move signals a cleaner and more secure digital environment, with reduced exposure to scams and misleading promotions.
As advertising threats continue to evolve, especially with the help of AI, Google is showing that it’s ready to evolve too—using AI to fight AI, and making the internet a safer place in the process.
INDIA TV.
