Google Scareware Ads Keep Running After Being Reported

A team of researchers from NYU and Radboud University built a tool called AdLens to detect deceptive software ads on Google's public ad archive. The tool analyzed 188,000 software-related ad creatives and flagged 238 scareware ads, 3,346 false claim ads, and 258 ads designed to hide their origin.

The researchers reported the bad ads to Google through its transparency center, but some continued to run despite being acknowledged as violations. In one case, Google couldn't review a publicly visible scareware ad that was collecting impressions.

Ritik Roongta, a researcher at NYU, said the team has been trying to get Google's attention on a fix. He noted that blocking by domain instead of individual ads would be more effective but is complicated due to the use of various registrars and frequent URL changes.