Google to crack down on scam ads impersonating celebrities

The Google logo is seen at the Vivatech show in Paris on June 14, 2023.[AP/YONHAP]

Google has started to crack down on scam ads illicitly featuring prominent public figures, including politicians and celebrities, as the number of fraud cases has surged in Korea.

The U.S. tech giant outlined a new ad policy regarding misrepresentation on March 28 that prohibits ads impersonating a public figure, brand or organization or implying their involvement.

"If we find violations of this policy, we will suspend your Google Ads accounts upon detection and without prior warning, and you will not be allowed to advertise with us again,” it emphasized.

The preceding policy merely stipulated that deceptive advertisements that conceal information about the advertisers’ business, products or services, or provide false information to deceive users, were not allowed. It also allowed noncompliant advertisers to get off with a warning or gave them time to appeal their actions.

The tech company said that it will be able to look into the advertisers’ private inventory including their ads, websites and accounts utilizing Google’s large language model, Gemini, released last year.

Google’s move comes after it faced mounting pressure from Korea’s antitrust regulator as well as Korean celebrities who have fallen victim to misrepresentation.

The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) filed an official request on March 25 asking the tech company to regulate its platforms regarding the matter.

From last October to this January, myriad public figures in Korea, from politicians to conglomerate leaders — such as People Power Party (PPP) leader Han Dong-hoon, celebrity chef Paik Jong-won and entertainers Yu Jae-seok and Hong Jin-kyung — were featured in scam ads, according to FTC.

Last month, 137 Korean celebrities also formed a group to publicize online phishing crimes, holding a press event on March 22 requesting that the government and Big Tech platforms take action over the matter.

The government, in turn, formed a separate task force to investigate financial fraud crimes that use the likenesses of public figures without authorization on March 27.

Google is the first among Big Tech firms to take measures to regulate such malpractices, while others such as Meta remain stagnant.

Comedian and actor Hong Jin-kyung, who runs her own YouTube channel, took to a community post on Friday to warn her subscribers about investment scams involving celebrities.

“Recently, there has been a sharp increase in scammers impersonating me and other celebrities to draw investments,” she wrote, asking her viewers and fans to not to be fooled by them.

“The scale of damage caused by such scams is estimated to exceed 1 trillion won ($741 million), but since most of the scammers’ accounts are from overseas, they say it is difficult to catch and punish the criminals. At this point, we can only hope to remain cautious and rely on the technological capabilities from platforms like Meta and Google to swiftly detect and block deceptive ads.”

BY LEE JAE-LIM [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]