I keep getting betting ads which are illegal in my country
YouTube doesn't want to take down scam ads
211–220 of 375 posts
Re: YouTube doesn't want to take down scam ads
#212How is this surprising or newsworthy in the slightest? These advertisers are paying Google lots of money; Google has no incentive to take them down.
It's not surprising. It's something we want fixed, however.
And it's news to me that after being investigated they'd still keep this type of ad running. I really, really thought that they'd watch it, determine it to be predatory and remove it. Maybe it was delusional of me to expect Google to be reasonable when given the chance.
Re: YouTube doesn't want to take down scam ads
#213They're all like that. A whole back I reported an obvious real estate scam using Wayne Gretzky and some Blue Jays player (I'm in Canada). The reply was it didn't break any policy. When ads are the primary source of revenue, there's zero incentive to police the platform
There is incentive, but they don't realize it. I know that online ads are often enough scams, so I won't buy anything from those ads. I do have to take effort to ensure that they don't effect me anyway (hint from basic psychology: they do, but I can make that effect less). If they did some work to ensure ads were not scams - I've seen ads for a number of interesting things that I intentionally did not buy because odd…
Most people believe they themselves cannot be influenced by ads "at all". If they were right, nobody would bother making ads.
Re: YouTube doesn't want to take down scam ads
#214It's not just Youtube, it's across all of Google Ads.
We had to hire someone to review ads in Google's ad transparency center. Every day they find dozens of new domains, with the same creatives - all those fake button "Continue"/"Download" click-trick ads.
The same process every ad. Report to google, block on google, and send to a third party ad security company. The volume didn't start going down until we hired that third party ad security company to do blocking post-auction. Google continues to let the exact same creatives come through, just with different domains/ad accounts. Their models can handle this, they just choose not too.
Seeing the CPMs these scam ads pay, it must make up a big portion of a reportable revenue source for google, where blocking would hurt their numbers for the quarter.
Re: YouTube doesn't want to take down scam ads
#215As it turns out there is a whole category in YouTubes ad system for Get-Rich-Quick schemes, as detailed out in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkhGJUTW3ag&t=1031s (timestamped at the relevant time). Just today I saw my elderly father click on a YouTube ad link for a crypto scam copying Swedish televisions web layout he was reading it and I saw it at the corner of my eye. He has adblock installed, he disabl…
Install uBlock Origin on Firefox for him. Educate him not to click ads. Ever. If you emphasize long enough that clicking an ad can lose him his bank account and entire identity, it can sink in. I've spent years on this with my parents. "Yes, Dad, YouTube is out to get you, because they want money from advertisers, and they are happily selling your safety to advertisers."
Re: YouTube doesn't want to take down scam ads
#216It is amazing that they don't care, it really creates a creepy atmosphere on Youtube. It taints the brand.
I get gross out weird ads for what seem to be cleaning supplies but hell if I want to click on some weird gross mutant thing to figure it out.
All sorts of forms of "Protect yourself from 5g / wi-fi / various weird things, brain interference / that induce confusion." products ...
There's good content on Youtube, but man I can't help but think of it as much as a misinformation / scam platform with what they allow for ads.
Re: YouTube doesn't want to take down scam ads
#217I reported one of these Elon deep fake ads. Google's response was:
> We decided not to take this ad down. We found that the ad doesn’t go against Google’s policies, which prohibit certain content and practices that we believe to be harmful to users and the overall online ecosystem.
Re: YouTube doesn't want to take down scam ads
#218Earlier quoted context omitted.
You can see it as extortion or... Paying for a product instead of being the product. Huge quality of life improvement. How is it different from paying for Netflix and similar?
Why not both? -Every corporation in the world.
yup, I don't see YouTube as an outlier in this regard
I do really enjoy my ad free YouTube, 8 years and counting, the $20 / month for 5 accounts is very much worth it
Re: YouTube doesn't want to take down scam ads
#219YouTube isn't the only Google property knowingly allowing scams, Google Maps has some interesting activity if you dive into it. A "policy", regulation, or law only matters if it is enforceable and enforced. The digital platform policies are relatively meaningless, subjective enforcement, appeasement measure for advertisers. You will not see the needle move on video as fraud until the commission model for talent fees…
The Google search results are the same. When searching for driver's license preparation, ads appear offering the purchase of a driver's license without any tests.
Re: YouTube doesn't want to take down scam ads
#220It's not just Youtube, it's across all of Google Ads. We had to hire someone to review ads in Google's ad transparency center. Every day they find dozens of new domains, with the same creatives - all those fake button "Continue"/"Download" click-trick ads. The same process every ad. Report to google, block on google, and send to a third party ad security company. The volume didn't start going down until we hired that…
Not just Ads either. Have you used Google Shopping? Huge number of fake websites selling stuff. During Covid when you couldn't find a bicycle for sale anywhere, Google Shopping would yield dozens of sellers with websites that were just created a few days prior with tons of bikes for sale at great prices, all a complete scam.