Google Says It Blocked 780 Million Bad Ads in 2015, From Counterfeit Goods to Unwanted Software

From counterfeit goods to weight loss scams, Google blocked more than 780 million ads in 2015 for violating policies, it said Thursday in a blog post. More than 12.5 million pharmaceutical ads that made misleading claims were blocked, while more than 10,000 websites and 18,000 accounts that pitched counterfeit products like fake designer watches were suspended. More than 30,000 sites that made misleading claims for weight loss through supplements -- a top user complaint, Google said -- were blocked, as were nearly 7,000 phishing sites. The company said it also disabled 10,000-plus sites offering "unwanted" software and slashed unwanted downloads through Google ads by over 99 percent. More than 17 million "trick to click" ads such as those that resemble system warnings from a person's computer were scrapped. Google said it also "stopped showing ads on more than 25,000 mobile apps because the developers didn't follow our policies." For instance, two-thirds of the violators had placed their ads so close to buttons that users accidentally clicked the ads. The company said more than 1.4 million applications from sites and mobile apps that wanted to display Google ads but didn't follow policies were rejected. Users also provided "4+ billion pieces of feedback" through the "mute this ad" functionality telling Google they didn't want to see an ad on a site again. Besides rolling out a new design to help users manage their ads settings last year, the company said it's updating policies on weight loss ads and new protections against malware and bots in 2016.