Cyber warfare can take on many forms, from direct attacks on networks, servers or individuals to deceptive advertising hiding unwanted or malicious software behind banners and links. According to Google's most recent ad safety report, the company blocked 1.4 billion of these ads manufactured to fly under the radar of ad review policies. Overall, Google removed 5.2 billion bad ads, 1.8 billion more than in 2021. As our chart shows, other types of blocked advertisements going against the company's policies are far lower in volume.
In second place, Google lists third-party ads utilizing specific trademarks. Even though said usage might be legal in general, trademark owners can file complaints and request takedowns of the corresponding Search or Display advertisements. This type of bad ads amounted to around 11 percent of the total number blocked. Coming in third and fourth are ads taken down to comply with legal requirements in specific states or countries and ads that use sensitive user data in their targeting.
In light of the European Union working to curb the influence of platform providers on the online experience of its residents, many internet companies have started reevaluating their ad business. Google, for example, launched a transparency center with which individual users can explore a database containing every campaign rolled out by certified advertisers. Meta, on the other hand, is allegedly planning to ban political ads altogether following an EU proposal that would force service providers to fully disclose all details behind political ad campaigns booked on platforms like Facebook, Instagram or YouTube, according to insider information.
