Google News contains ads that look like news stories, but are actually scams. Cybercriminals thus try to fool users with fake versions of newspapers. It shows that Google is nowhere near keeping up with its own format, while placing the responsibility on others.
Research by Dutch news organization nu.nl found that malicious actors abuse Google News ads to scam users. For example, a legitimate-looking article urged a nu.nl reader to purchase crypto currencies, a mistake that the users says cost them “quite a bit of money.” Apart from the danger of scams, nu.nl notes that the fake messages ensure the further spread of misinformation. It also damages the reputation of news sites.
Google says it makes every effort to keep out fake ads, but that it’s a perpetual “cat-and-mouse game” with cybercriminals. It also encourages users to report harmful ads. About Google’s response, nu.nl has little to say. There’s a fair amount to level against the company, however. Why can Google so easily sidestep its own responsibility?
Scale problem
Google claims to have removed 5.2 billion ads and banned 6.7 million advertiser accounts from its own platform by 2022. Thanks to thousands of employees and automated detections, it already removes many ads from even surfacing to users. It’s also constantly working on new methods to flag content, for example, that contains advertising unsuitable for children. This doesn’t always go smoothly, to be fair. Early this year, malware even managed to spread through Google ads.
So Google talks about a cat-and-mouse game, in which cybercriminals come up with new ways to circumvent Google’s policies after each reinforcement. We hear this rhetoric fairly often when it comes to cybersecurity. However, security parties are all about protecting from a phenomenon which they do not contribute to themselves. In the case of Google, they do, as the placement of numerous personalized ads with collected news is what enables these criminals to reach users in the first place.
It seems Google is struggling with a problem of scale. Globally, it provides billions of online visitors with personalized news feeds, with revenue from ads as the main revenue model for this service. Android users can hardly escape it, as the feed can be found with a single swipe to the right on the home screen. Having people approve each individual ad may not be practical on a global stage. This scale has made Google’s ad platform so successful, however, that European regulators are considering splitting it up. Since courts have already ruled against Google’s monopoly on the Play Store in America, further action against the company’s dominant market position is not inconceivable.
Also read: Google won’t pay for Canadian news links