Google bans 5.6 million Nigerian advertisers and removes 3.4 billion advertisements worldwide

Google has revealed that in 2021, it will have eliminated more than 3.4 billion ads, limited more than 5.7 billion, and terminated more than 5.6 million advertiser accounts. It plans to publish the 2022 data soon.

According to Google, it also took broader site-level enforcement action on about 63,000 publisher sites in Nigeria and other countries around the world and prohibited or limited advertisements from serving on 1.7 billion publisher pages.

These were among the details provided at the Google Ads Privacy Immersion workshop yesterday in Lagos. The search engine pointed out that user safety always comes first when it decides whether advertisements and other commercial material should be displayed on the platforms.

In order to avoid fraudulent use of the company’s advertising network and make it safer for individuals, companies, and publications, it was emphasized that thousands of Google employees work around-the-clock.

As the digital world develops, “our policy development and enforcement strategies evolve with it, helping to prevent abuse while allowing businesses to reach new customers and grow,” Google said in a statement. It added that this important work is done because an ad-supported Internet allows everyone to access important information and diverse content at no cost.

Accordingly, the tech giant reported that 652.1 million ads identified as abuse on the network were eliminated, along with 286.8 million adult materials, 136.9 million trademarks, 125.6 million unsuitable content ads, 75.1 million gambling and game-related ads, and 60 million ads for drugs and healthcare.

Among these are financial services.58.9 million, copyrights 44.2 million, deception 38.1 million, legal requirements 32.6 million, hazardous goods and services 20.6 million, alcohol 9.4 million, encouraging dishonest behavior 7.9 million, personalized ads 2.20 million, and counterfeit goods 1 million.

In order to stay ahead of potential dangers, Google said it has continued to invest in policies, a team of experts, and enforcement technology, including introducing new policies and revising current ones. It was revealed that in 2021, over 30 policies or restrictions for advertisers and publishers were added or updated, including a policy prohibiting claims that promote climate change denial and a certification for U.S.-based health insurance providers to only permit ads from government exchanges, first-party providers, and licensed third-party brokers. It also revealed the introduction of a multi-strike system for repeat policy violations.

Regarding the restricted advertisements, Google stated that although it might be a potent marketing tool in certain niches, “we work hard to avoid showing ads when and where they could be inappropriate.” Because of this, we only occasionally permit the marketing of the content below. Advertisers might need to fulfill extra restrictions before their ads are eligible to run, and these promotions might not appear to every user in every area. Keep in mind that not all ad networks, features, or products can support restricted content.

As a result, the search engine giant restricted 1.4 billion trademarks, 511.4 million other businesses, 223 million financial services, 219,3 million health care and pharmaceuticals, 128.5 million alcoholic beverages, 126.1 million adult content, 108.1 million gaming and gambling, and 68,6 million copyrights.

Nitin Gajria, the managing director of Google Africa, stated that access to reliable information has never been more crucial to society as a whole since it enables people to find solutions, find ways to save money, make more ethical decisions, and be secure and informed.

According to Gajria, advertisements have supported “our favorite material for years, from newspapers, periodicals, and entertainment to the web.” Today, 66% of the world’s population is online. The ad-supported Internet model has transformed into a great resource for people, giving us access to an abundance of tools, knowledge, and material.

He says that as more people do their everyday things online, their worries about how their personal information is collected, used, and shared have grown.

“Over the past five years, private browsing has seen a growth in search interest of over 60% in Nigeria, over 30% in South Africa, and over 110% in Kenya. Kenya is the only African nation to rank in the top 15 countries worldwide for private browsing searches over the past five years.

Since 2012, Kenya, South Africa, and Nigeria have searched the most for private browsing in 2022. There is little doubt that this is a crucial issue for African firms to recognize and address. People demand top-notch online experiences from brands they can rely on, provided with the privacy they deserve. This poses a responsibility and an opportunity for African advertisers. Advertisers want effective ads that give polite and private online experiences, as well as the ability to measure what counts.