The Register: Google slays thousands of fake news vids posted by pro-China group Dragonbridge. “Google’s Threat Analysis Group (TAG) has burned more than 50,000 spammy fake news stories and other content posted by the pro-China ‘Dragonbridge’ gang. Dragonbridge ran disinformation campaigns across Google-owned platforms YouTube, Blogger and AdSense.”
Reuters: Google to pause ads that exploit or dismiss Russia-Ukraine war. “Alphabet-owned Google will not help websites, apps and YouTube channels sell ads alongside content that it deems exploits, dismisses or condones the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, the U.S. company said Wednesday.”
Search Engine Journal: Google Releases its Site Kit WordPress Plugin Out of Beta . “Site Kit allows WordPress users to access data from Google products right from their site’s dashboard. The plugin aggregates data from Google Search Console, Google Analytics, PageSpeed Insights, and AdSense.”
Reuters: EU antitrust chief says investigation of Google’s Android, AdSense is advancing. “Investigations into how Google (GOOGL.O) may be using its Android smartphone operating system and its AdSense advertising service to thwart rivals are advancing, Europe’s antitrust chief said on Wednesday, amid concern about the lengthy proceedings.”
Search Engine Journal: Google Settles Lawsuit Alleging it Unfairly Kept AdSense Earnings. “Google has settled a lawsuit alleging it unfairly kept AdSense earnings belonging to publishers whose accounts were closed due to suspicious activities. The case, at the time of settlement, focused on Google’s practice of withholding 100% of a banned publisher’s unpaid earnings, including earnings that were not a result of suspicious activities. Google denies wrongdoing.”
The Register: Ex-stream action: YouTube slays Zombie horde in AdSense battle. “Google has had a class-action lawsuit in the US over last year’s changes to its AdSense advertising system thrown out of court. Judge Edward Chen of the California Northern District Court dismissed (PDF) with prejudice (meaning the case may not be re-filed) the complaint brought by Zombie Go Boom, a YouTube broadcaster that had accused Google and YouTube of unfair practices and breach of contract.”
TechCrunch: Google debuts AdSense ‘auto ads’ with machine learning to make placement and monetization choices. “Google is today unveiling a new ad unit for AdSense that taps into the company’s big push to add more artificial intelligence into its business, and to potentially bring on more publishers who might consider ramping up their advertising efforts but don’t have the time or other resources to manage them.”
Business Insider: A fourth class-action lawsuit against Google claims the company rips off publishers and their advertisers. “Google has again been sued in US federal court by a web publisher alleging that the search giant does not refund advertisers when it discovers they have spent money on “invalid” clicks, and instead wrongly retains the money for itself. The suit is at least the fourth in a string of suits against Alphabet’s Google search unit making similar allegations. One case won a ruling granting it class-action status in July of this year.”
Business Insider: Lawsuit based on a surreptitiously recorded phone call claims Google doesn’t refund advertisers who spend money on fraudulent clicks. “A web advertising company named AdTrader, whose staff surreptitiously recorded a phone conversation with a Google executive, claims in a class-action lawsuit that Google does not refund money to advertisers when it discovers that those advertisers have spent money on fraudulent or invalid clicks.”
The Telegraph: EU closes in on Google as it prepares second antitrust fine. “The EU is preparing to fine Google over its multi-billion dollar advertising empire as a high-profile investigation into its Android operating system is pushed back to next year. Europe’s competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager is gearing up to hit the web giant with an antitrust penalty over AdSense, its powerful advertising network, with a decision expected in the next few weeks.”
There have been lots and lots and lots of stories about Google’s advertising placement from the perspective of advertisers, but Stephen E. Arnold has a view from the publishing side of things. “I have a site which I use to provide information to those who attend my law enforcement, intelligence, and security lectures and webinars. The site also has information about my books written specifically for law enforcement and intelligence professionals. I don’t recall when we included Google ads on the site, but it has not been an issue until today, March 26, 2017. “
I wonder if this’ll include those junky Outbrain-type links? Publisher revenue would plummet. From The New York Times: Google Will Ban Websites That Host Fake News From Using Its Ad Service. “Google announced it would ban websites that peddle fake news from using its online advertising service, a decision that comes as concerns mount over the impact online hoaxes may have had on the presidential election.”
Google AdSense used to have a limit of three ad units per Web page. Now that appears to be gone. Ugh. “Over the past 12 hours, I received a few emails and notifications from AdSense publishers that Google seems to have dropped the ad limit per page policy. In the past, the policy was written up on this page as saying that there were “up to three AdSense for content units.” Now that has been removed.”
Regulators in the EU are filing yet MORE charges against Google. “The new charge sheet accuses Google of having abused its dominant position by artificially preventing third-party websites from displaying search advertisements from its competitors. This relates to Google’s ‘AdSense for Search’ platform, in which Google acts as an intermediary for websites such as those of online retailers, telecoms operators or newspapers, with searches producing results that include search ads.”
Google recently closed a ton of inactive AdSense accounts, but the way they went about it is causing a lot of consternation around the Web.
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