Why is Google still serving dodgy ads?
The author criticizes Google for continuing to serve deceptive advertisements on YouTube despite user reports. They argue that Google should leverage its own AI capabilities to detect and block these malicious ads more effectively.
Why it matters
It raises questions about the efficacy of corporate content moderation and the potential conflict of interest between ad revenue and user safety.
AI is really good at detecting deceptive adverts - why isn’t Google using it?
A couple of months ago I noticed this advert popping up in the YouTube app. The main reason I noticed it is that I accidentally clicked it - I knew I was running out of space on my iPhone and a minor lapse of concentration caught me out.
These things can slip through even the best review processes, so I did my internet duty and reported the advert.
The response I got back was less than satisfactory:
Again, sometimes things slip through the net and people don’t always check things properly, so I reported it again. And got the same response.
In fact, multiple people have reported this advert and received the same:
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