Facebook has been fighting a full-scale assault against purveyors of false information. The bandwagon has now included Google, which in its initial effort barred 200 publications from utilizing Google AdWords.
An existing guideline that forbids websites that deceive users with their content was updated to include the restriction. Since November, when the US elections dominated headlines, Google has been under heightened criticism for its involvement in the dissemination of false and misleading news, much like Facebook.
Google also made several changes to its Adsense policy that same month, which now forbids websites that:
“misrepresent, misstate, or hide information regarding the publisher, the substance of the publication, or the principal purpose.”
Such websites are penalized by Google by having their ability to monetize with ads removed.
Google reported on Wednesday that over the past two months, following the new policy changes, it has examined more than 550 sites, leading to the imposition of over 200 permanent, irrevocable bans. 140 other websites have had their access to Adsense temporarily barred.
Google also saw a surge in tabloid cloakers in 2016. In essence, tabloid cloakers are adverts that pretend to be news websites. For instance, when you click on advertising for something you’re interested in, like celebrity news or something similar, you’re instead taken to a spam site with ads for weight-loss goods or some other kind of spam.
Not only was phony news material prohibited, but Google Adsense also barred over 47,000 spam sites and another 6,000 fraudulent adverts.
The business also disclosed that in 2016, 1.7 billion advertisements were removed for violating different policies, up from 780 million in 2015. Google has come under growing fire for how some news sites are highlighted by its algorithms.
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