US Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) speaks to reporters during a break from the Senate Foreign Relations and Armed Services joint meeting on US policy towards Afghanistan, on Capitol Hill in Washington, February 2, 2022.
Al Drago | Reuters
Google According to Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., chairman of the Senate Commerce subcommittee on consumer protection, failed to take down the deceptive ads that violated its policies.
In one Letters arrive Google CEO Sundar Pichai, first reported by washington articles On Tuesday, Blumenthal wrote that Google’s policies on deceptive ads “often appear to be dead letter laws” because of their lack of enforcement.
“I am deeply concerned that Google appears to be unwilling to protect consumers and small businesses on Google Ads and has shown a lack of accountability in the face of fraud and abuse,” he wrote.
Blumenthal’s letter cites a 2021 article from Tick discovered that Google was running ads made to look like government websites in violation of its own policies. At the time, a Google spokesperson told the publication that it had removed the offending ads.
But Blumenthal said his office recently found deceptive ads using the same keywords mentioned in the article. His staff also found the ads for health treatments misleading, he added.
Google has in the past added verification process to limit the impersonation of government services, such as obtaining passports.
But Blumenthal alleges that the continued existence of deceptive ads burdens small businesses by making it harder and more expensive for their websites to appear in search results, while adding additional padding. Google pocket money.
Blumenthal said Google’s focus on “paid advertising instead of real answers” ultimately led to the burying of smaller competitors.
A Google spokesperson said: “We have strict policies in place to protect people and advertisers from abuse, including rules that govern the use of trademarks in advertising campaigns. and protect businesses from infringement.”
“Our Google Search ads are also clearly labeled, and we rely on extensive user testing to ensure our ad labels meet our high standards to stand out. and distinguishable from organic results. We are reviewing Senator Blumenthal’s letter and will work directly with his office to provide a full response.”
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