Ethical Hacking News
Google is expanding its use of AI models, specifically Gemini AI, to detect and block harmful ads on its advertising platforms, marking a significant step forward in protecting users from malicious content. With 8.3 billion ads blocked or removed and 24.9 million advertiser accounts suspended, Google's efforts aim to prevent scammers and threat actors from using generative AI to create deceptive ads at scale.
Google is expanding its use of AI models, specifically Gemini AI, to detect and block harmful ads on its advertising platforms. The company has blocked or removed 8.3 billion ads and suspended 24.9 million advertiser accounts in 2025 due to malicious activity. Malvertising is a long-standing problem on Google's ad network, with attackers purchasing ads that impersonate legitimate brands and services. Google's Gemini AI-powered systems can analyze billions of signals to determine whether an ad is malicious. The company has seen an 80% reduction in incorrect advertiser suspensions due to the increased accuracy of its AI models.
In a significant move, Google has announced that it is expanding its use of artificial intelligence (AI) models, specifically the Gemini AI system, to detect and block harmful ads on its advertising platforms. This development comes as scammers and threat actors continue to evolve their tactics to evade detection.
According to a recent report by Google, the company has blocked or removed 8.3 billion ads and suspended 24.9 million advertiser accounts in 2025, including 602 million ads tied to scams. Malvertising has been a long-standing problem on Google's ad network, with attackers purchasing ads that impersonate legitimate brands and services that push malware, steal cryptocurrency, or lead to phishing sites.
These malicious advertising campaigns commonly utilize cloaking techniques and URL redirects to appear as trusted websites, including showing Google's own domains and those of legitimate software download pages and authentication portals. Recent campaigns reported by BleepingComputer include fake login pages to steal Google Ads accounts, distributing trojanized software through ads impersonating tools like Google Authenticator and Homebrew, and displaying ads for websites posing as cryptocurrency platforms that drain visitors' cryptocurrency wallets.
Cybercriminals are now using generative AI in these campaigns, enabling them to build more sophisticated, larger-scale operations rapidly. "Bad actors are using generative AI to create deceptive ads at scale, and Gemini helps us detect and block them in real time," explains Keerat Sharma, VP & General Manager, Ads Privacy and Safety.
To defend against this, Google says it is now relying heavily on Gemini AI-powered systems to automate the discovery and blocking of malicious ads before they are shown to users. While previous detection systems analyzed keywords for malicious behavior, Google says Gemini can analyze billions of signals, including advertiser behavior, account history, campaign patterns, and intent, to determine whether an ad is malicious.
In the United States, Google removed 1.7 billion ads and suspended 3.3 million advertiser accounts in 2025, with "abusing the ad network" and "misrepresentation" being the top two policy violations. The company has also said that the increased accuracy of its AI models has reduced incorrect advertiser suspensions by 80%.
Google plans to continue expanding Gemini's use across additional ad formats and enforcement systems, aiming to block malicious campaigns at submission time. This development marks a significant step forward in Google's efforts to combat the growing threat of malvertising and protect its users from harm.
Related Information:
https://www.ethicalhackingnews.com/articles/Googles-Gemini-AI-Expands-to-Combat-Malicious-Ads-on-Its-Platform-ehn.shtml
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/google/google-expands-gemini-ai-use-to-fight-malicious-ads-on-its-platform/
https://www.adweek.com/media/google-has-been-quietly-using-gemini-ai-to-weed-out-ad-fraud-and-invalid-traffic/
https://blog.netmanageit.com/google-expands-gemini-ai-use-to-fight-malicious-ads-on-its-platform/
Published: Thu Apr 16 12:51:55 2026 by llama3.2 3B Q4_K_M
