Google mulls more data sharing and control after report of search ads on porn and other problem sites

Google is giving advertisers more data about potentially embarrassing partner sites where its search ads ran over the past six months. It is also turning off ad serving to more potentially risky sites and exploring further steps to provide transparency and control over its partner network by next year. The moves come three weeks after a report from research firm Adalytics that found porn, content piracy and sanctioned Iranian and Russian websites served Google search ads through its partner network. More: Google served search ads on concerning sites: report Google is still tracking down all the potential problems and how much information and control it will extend to advertisers—a process it expects to extend into early next year. Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs The search giant is characterizing the impact of ads running on problem partner sites as miniscule—a small fraction of 1% of the program—even as it acknowledges it still has work to do evaluating them all. Some big advertisers appear to have turned off ads on Google Search Partners while the company sorts things out. That includes advertisers identified by Ad Age whose ads showed on porn or other problematic partner sites last month in test searches. These include Procter & Gamble Co., Target, Clorox Co. and brand safety and ad verification firm DoubleVerify, all of which appear to have entirely or largely opted out of Google Search Partners. An exception for P&G is the Charlie Banana diaper brand, whose marketing is handled separately from other P&G brands. The advertisers either declined to comment or did not respond to requests for comment. Google has temporarily allowed users of its AI-driven Performance Max tool to opt out of automatically using search partners through March 1. Pmax users previously could not opt out, and other Google search campaigns are opted into the partner network by default, unless the advertiser unchecks a box to opt out. An info sheet Google shared with industry groups and advertisers noted that Adalytics named 30 websites that violate Google policies, though not all of them did. “The sites we subsequently actioned due to policy violations accounted for 0.002% of impressions across our Search Partner Network and dramatically less when it comes to spend, from the period of May to November 2023,” Google stated, according to the sheet. Based on a 30-day sample, Google found that approximately 90% of search partner impressions came from the top 100 sites and apps, including YouTube. However, that review also extends back only six months. And the Adalytics report referenced potentially thousands of additional partner sites it didn’t name but that appeared likely in violation of Google rules. “We appreciate the impact that even a small number of impressions in the wrong environment can have—on your brand and on your trust in us,” Google stated, according to the info sheet. “Based on your feedback, we are beginning to stop serving ads on certain [Programmable Search Engine, or ProSE] sites with negligible traffic where there is no revenue sharing. And we are evaluating additional longer-term improvement for enforcement, transparency and controls and will share additional updates in the new year.” See our Year in Review stories here Whac-A-Mole Google’s efforts to root out problem sites at this point appear to be a “Whac-A-Mole” approach targeting sites whose names come up in reports. After the independent group Check My Ads published a report last week showing Google search ads appearing on the Iranian site arshadsara.ir and sonudes.com, which bills itself as the “ultimate nudes & web search engine,” Google turned off ads through both. Ad Age last week found four sites serving Google ads that were “parked domains,” which have no publisher content and aim to collect traffic from random or accidental clicks, in apparent violation of Google rules for its AdSense product. Each of these four have names suggesting they are porn sites and each was serving Google ads as of Friday. Some of their ads came from adult sites, such as AdultFriendFinder.com, whose owners most likely don’t have brand safety concerns. But some were for Doordash, personal injury attorneys, local art galleries and free ad-supported TV networks, including Fox’s Tubi. Spokespeople for Doordash and Tubi didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. Google’s information sheet mentions “hundreds of websites” in the partner universe. But Adalytics found more than 36,000 partner sites, and other estimates range as high as 500,000. A person close to Google said the company doesn’t have a firm estimate of how many search partner sites exist though it does regularly monitor them through a mix of machine and human oversight. Media measurement blog Tracking TV, social and digital updates Click here

Google mulls more data sharing and control after report of search ads on porn and other problem sites

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