Google bans “advertising using the epidemic to create panic” and starts removing illegal products

With COVID-19 still spreading around the world and advertisements for hand sanitizers, gloves, masks and other prevention and control products widely spread, online advertising companies often struggle to enforce policies that prohibit the use of panic to spread such advertisements.

On the afternoon of March 4, local time, according to US media reports, Google displayed many such advertisements. That’s despite Google’s policy of banning ad content that highlights the coronavirus.

CNBC quoted a Google spokesperson on the same day as saying that product advertisements that promise to prevent new crown virus pneumonia appear in Google’s shopping list for product searches and in the Display of advertising spaces provided by Google for third-party sites.

Other big tech companies such as Google and Amazon have seen third-party platforms rush to capitalize on the coronavirus selling points on their platforms before regulation catches up. It also reflects how large-scale online ad operators are policing without the tools and manpower to crack down on those exploiting platform vulnerabilities in a never-ending game of whack-a-mole.

For example, a CNBC reporter found that Google displayed an ad for “preventing the new coronavirus” for masks, saying it was “government certified to block up to 95% of airborne viruses and bacteria, with limited stock.” The advertising photo shows a 3M mask, and the jumping page listing says the product is “National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Certified,” but the listing is actually displayed on a website called “MedicalProtex.”

In addition, Google’s shopping search results also display hand sanitizers, protective clothing, masks and other products that claim to be able to protect against the new coronavirus.

Google says its shopping rankings are “combined based on advertiser bids and user relevance, such as your current searches and activity.”

A Google spokesperson noted that the company has a “sensitive events policy” for ads, which prohibits ad content that “may highlight natural disasters, conflict or death.” The company said the novel coronavirus outbreak was “within the scope of this policy, and we are aggressively implementing it across our platform.” The spokesperson also said that this policy also applies to YouTube, which does not allow creators to make videos for profit from sensitive events such as the new coronavirus outbreak.

The spokesperson also said that Google also has a “sensitive incidents policy” for online shopping and is “proactively enforcing” and removing products and listings that violate the policy. The company said it was investigating the ad case provided by CNBC and would remove it by the afternoon of March 4.

Google’s “Health & Medicines” advertising policy says the platform prohibits “unapproved products from being marketed in a way that suggests they are safe or effective in preventing, curing, or treating a particular disease or disorder.”

The companies behind the ad, such as MedicalProtex, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Last week, Facebook also banned ads that claimed to prevent or treat the new coronavirus, or tried to create a sense of urgency around the pandemic, such as the promotion of “limited sales” of certain products.

In a statement, Facebook said it was working hard to support the work of the World Health Organization, “including taking steps to stop adverts for products that reference COVID-19 that creates a sense of urgency, such as suggesting limited availability, or guaranteeing Masks that can cure or prevent, for example, claim to prevent the spread of the virus 100% are not allowed to be released.”