Google blocked 780 million bad ads throughout 2015

[Scorpus]

While obnoxious advertising is something many people will have come across when browsing around the web, Google has been taking a concerted effort to fight bad ads across its widepsread ad network.

Throughout 2015, Google blocked a whopping 780 million ads from its ad network for violating the company's strict policies. All up, Google has over 1,000 people in a team dedicated to combatting crappy ads, which work alongside sophisticated technology to improve the ad experience for all.

Of the 780 million ads Google banned, most were for the sort of crap you don't want to see: counterfeit products; dodgy, misleading or unapproved pharmaceuticals; weight loss scams; phishing; malware and other unwanted software; and 'trick to click' ads that are designed to look like system errors or other prompts.

Google has also developed technology to improve the mobile ad experience. The company disabled ads on 25,000 mobile apps due to the developers ignoring Google's ad guidelines, and rejected over 1.4 million ad applications for the same reasons. Technology is also in place to prevent users on mobile devices from accidentally clicking on ads.

The fight against bad ads will continue in 2016, with Google looking into ways to further restrict "what can be advertised as effective for weight loss" and prevent even more malware and bots. User feedback does help Google improve the ad experience, as does changing your ad settings through this control panel.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/63562-google-blocked-780-million-bad-ads-throughout-2015.html

 

[axiomatic13]

Sorry Google, I love you. But until there are no usage caps from my ISP and there is a way to block 100% of malicious ads I will still block advertisements and ad domains at my router I run a business out of my house and I can't risk the exposure to the malicious ones. And then of course the bandwidth the ad's take up that I already paid for.

 

[ypsylon]

Does that mean that Google blocked all it's traffic?

780m [all] ads [are bad] with such volume they receive that's probably a week at most.

 

[EClyde]

Sorry Google, I love you. But until there are no usage caps from my ISP and there is a way to block 100% of malicious ads I will still block advertisements and ad domains at my router I run a business out of my house and I can't risk the exposure to the malicious ones. And then of course the bandwidth the ad's take up that I already paid for.

Can you point me to a sight that discusses how to block ads at the router please? Thanks

 

[Camikazi]

Sorry Google, I love you. But until there are no usage caps from my ISP and there is a way to block 100% of malicious ads I will still block advertisements and ad domains at my router I run a business out of my house and I can't risk the exposure to the malicious ones. And then of course the bandwidth the ad's take up that I already paid for.

Can you point me to a sight that discusses how to block ads at the router please? Thanks

If it's a homemade router (another computer with the right software) then it is not hard since there are programs that will do it. With a consumer router it is harder since you will most likely need one that runs DD-WRT and use something like Privoxy or maybe install 3rd party programs on a Tomato install. You COULD just use the hosts file on the router but you really shouldn't since a big hosts file can slow down a regular computer so it would probably kill a consumer router.

 

[EClyde]

If it's a homemade router (another computer with the right software) then it is not hard since there are programs that will do it. With a consumer router it is harder since you will most likely need one that runs DD-WRT and use something like Privoxy or maybe install 3rd party programs on a Tomato install. You COULD just use the hosts file on the router but you really shouldn't since a big hosts file can slow down a regular computer so it would probably kill a consumer router.

Thanks...Old computers I have. I never knew a computer could be used as a router. I won't write..." I DIDN'T KNOW THAT" I would sound like my ex mother-in-law.<<<SHUDDER>>> I have something to look into.

 

[captaincranky]

If I've understood this correctly, you have to volunteer for ads from Google, to get rid of ads you don't want from Google. Sheesh. Somehow the term, "ironic", doesn't seem expansive enough to describe the situation...

 

[axiomatic13]

Can you point me to a sight that discusses how to block ads at the router please? Thanks

I have a Ubiquiti EdgeRouter Pro and its exactly the same as it is for any router that can use Squid proxy to block the domains. Then you go find a list of Advertisement domains and add them in Squidguard. Voila!