Google blocked more than 524 million bad ads

The numbers are in. Google blocked “more than 524 million bad ads” last year. It subsequently banned 214,000 advertisers in the process.

This was an increase of more than 50% over the previous year. In 2013, Google removed 350 million bad ads that year, though it banned more than 270,000 advertisers.

When it comes to counterfeit goods, Google banned 7,000 advertisers specifically for promoting counterfeit goods in 2014.

Google uses an algorithm to spot fake ads and then relies on its staff to double check them.

Other interesting numbers include the removal of 250,000 sites from Google’s ad network for masking links to malware, 4.3 million disapproved for violating copyright infringement policies, and 9.6 million ads removed for “healthcare-related violations.”