Google Bans 200 Publishers Following ‘Fake News’ Policy Update

Following the implementation of a policy promising a crackdown on “fake news,” Google has banned as many as 200 publishers from one of their ad networks in just under 2 months.

Recode reports that many publishers have been banned from the Google AdSense network, which allows website owners to place Google approved advertisements on their website in exchange for royalties and aims to deliver appropriate ads based on the website’s content. A new policy change prohibits sites that mislead users with their content, resulting in over 200 websites being banned from the network.

Google also reported that they removed 1.7 billion ads for policy violations in 2016 compared to 780 million in 2015. Google indicated a combination of advertiser behaviour and improved automatic detection of policy violations led to the increase. 

Google also cracked down on websites that posed as legitimated tabloid newspapers only to redirect users to purchase pages for diet and health supplements. Approximately 1300 of these websites were suspended in 2016.

Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan_ or email him at lnolan@breitbart.com