Google expands ads verification program to new countries to fight financial fraud

Last year, Google launched a verification program for financial services advertisers in the UK to combat financial fraud in advertising. Building on its success, the tech giant is expanding the program to additional markets and countries.

Google says it witnessed a pronounced decline in reports of ads promoting financial scams, since the launch of this policy in the UK.

"Today we're updating Google's financial products and services policy to expand our verification program for financial services advertisers to new countries and markets. This measure creates a new layer of security against fraudsters and will help further safeguard our network from financial scams," Alejandro Borgia Director, Ads Privacy and Safety at Google, wrote in a blog post on Thursday.

Financial services advertisers in the new markets will be required to demonstrate that they are authorized by their relevant financial services regulator, and have completed Google's advertiser verification program in order to begin promoting their products and services. The policy will go into effect on August 30, 2022, and advertisers who fail to complete the new verification process by this date will no longer be allowed to promote financial services.

The policy will roll out in phases, starting with Australia, Singapore and Taiwan. In the coming months, these verification requirements will further expand to advertisers in additional countries and regions.

Google says it blocked or removed more than 58.9 million ads for violating its financial services policies last year

"This policy is just the latest step in our longstanding effort to tackle online fraud. We have robust policies in place to prohibit bad actors from deceiving people through tactics such as phishing, using clickbait, or providing misleading information about a product, service or business. We remain committed to this effort and will continue to collaborate with industry and government organizations to lead on necessary changes that help fight evolving tactics from bad actors," the search giant said.