New Google Tech Quickly Removes Ads Violating Policies; Company Updates 'RTBF' Issues

Google is introducing technology that quickly removes certain ads that violate policies, wrote Scott Spencer, director-sustainable ads, in a Monday blog post. In the past, the company typically removed all advertisements from a publisher's site for policy violations but the new technology will allow Google to remove ads on select pages while keeping ads on the rest of the site, he wrote. "We’ll still use site-level actions but only as needed. And when it's necessary, such as in the case of egregious or persistent violations, we'll still terminate publishers. Altogether, this means fewer disruptions for publishers." Spencer also announced a new one-stop shop -- piloted with thousands of AdSense customers -- where publishers can learn about policy actions that affect their sites and pages. In another blog post, Senior Privacy Counsel Peter Fleischer wrote two issues will be considered in the coming months involving EU citizens' right to be forgotten. The European Court of Justice will consider "whether people have an absolute right to request removal of lawfully published, but sensitive, personal data from search results. Or whether, as is the case now, search engines should continue to balance the public interest in access to information with the individual’s right to privacy." Fleischer said automatic delisting from search engines creates a "dangerous loophole." The other issue -- being considered by the French Conseil d'Etat (Council of State) -- deals with whether the right to be forgotten should extend beyond Europe, which Fleischer said would "set a grave precedent." Less open and democratic countries could order "Google to remove search links for every citizen in every other country of the world," he said. Since EU citizens gained their right to be forgotten three years ago, Fleischer said the company has assessed 720,000 requests and removed about 43 percent of 2 million links submitted.