Google Will Combat Fraud By Granting Users Access To The History And Details Of Advertisers
Google will combat fraud by granting users access to the history and details of advertisers
Google has announced plans to provide users with more information about the companies that sponsor the advertisements that they see. It became necessary to do so in order to assist users in accurately determining whether the ad buyer is credible following complaints about fraud on the platform.
The decision is part of Google's larger effort to restructure its advertising business at the same time that it is subjected to increased regulatory scrutiny. Its ad service is intended to promote transparency and consumer privacy. The company began verifying the identities and locations of its advertisers in 90 countries as early as last year, and it plans to expand this process in the coming years.
According to current plans, users in the United States will be able to access the disclosure option in the coming months, with plans to expand to additional countries by 2022.
With this development, Google intends to provide web searchers with more information about advertisers, including information about who the advertiser is, why the ad was served to them, and information about some of the previous ads the advertiser has run with Google.
The "About this ad" menu on the company's website will now include some basic information about advertisers, as well as some of the other advertisements they have.
As a condition of advertising with Google, advertisers must disclose their personal information by providing documentation proving their identity and the country from which they operate.
They will also be required to provide specifics about the products that they intend to market. Every one of these items is a component of the advertiser identity verification program, which was implemented last year. The specifics will now be used to construct the new advertisement pages.
In the screenshot provided, Google demonstrates how the new advertisers' pages will include some basic information such as the legal name of the advertiser, the country in which they are located, an estimate of the number of ads they currently have running, and a list of the advertisements the advertiser has run over the previous 30 days.
Every day, Google claims that more than 30 million people interact with its ads' transparency and control menus. The company believes that the new page menu will not only enable users to identify a fraudulent advertisement, but it will also enable them to report an advertisement that they believe is in violation of any of Google's policies as well.
In the years prior to this, Google had taken a number of significant steps to clean up its advertising space. This includes a restriction on political ad targeting, an integrated ad-blocking feature in Chrome, as well as plans to phase out third-party cookies, which have now been postponed until further notice.
According to Google, the purpose of these innovations is to "build on our efforts to provide users who engage with ads on Google products with a clear and intuitive experience."
