Google says last year it eliminated 780 million “plain bad” ads carrying malware, promoting fake goods or leading to phishing sites.
Ad networks have become a popular mechanism for distributing malware, such as the malvertising campaign spread via Google’s AdSense at the beginning of last year.
To prevent bad ads from harming internet users and threatening Google’s multi-billion dollar ad empire, Google ads and commerce SVP Sridhar Ramaswamy says the company has now hired more than 1,000 people across the globe whose sole purpose is “fighting bad ads”.
“Through a combination of computer algorithms and people at Google reviewing ads, we’re able to block the vast majority of these bad ads before they ever get shown,” Ramaswamy said.
Google developed a similar humans and machine strategy for combating bad apps on Google Play, last year hiring its first human reviewers to help identify apps that violate its store policies.
