Google·YouTube 'Celebrity Impersonation Ads' Spread, "Account Suspension Without Warning"

Ban on Impersonation Ads by Celebrities on YouTube and Others
Permanent Suspension of Fake Advertiser Accounts

[Photo by Pixabay]

Google, which had been passive about the spreading issue of 'celebrity impersonation advertisements' online, announced that it will permanently suspend advertiser accounts that run impersonation ads on its portal and YouTube.

According to Google's advertising policy page on the 1st, since the 28th of last month, Google has completely banned "acts of impersonating or falsely implying affiliation with public figures, brands, or organizations to induce users to provide money or personal information." The previous policy only stated that advertisements that conceal or provide false information about the advertiser's business, products, or services to deceive users were not allowed.

In particular, Google emphasized, "If a violation of this policy is found, the corresponding Google ad account will be suspended without prior warning," adding, "Advertisers will never be able to use Google's advertising services again." This is a stronger measure compared to other policy violations, where prior warnings were given before suspension procedures.

Google specified that in determining violations, it may review various information such as the advertiser's ads, websites, accounts, and third-party sources. This includes the use of large language models (LLMs), including Google's universal artificial intelligence (AI) model 'Gemini,' launched last year.

[Image source=Google policy update screenshot]

Earlier, the 'Meeting for Solving Celebrity Impersonation Online Phishing Crimes' (hereafter Yusamo), which includes broadcaster Song Eun-yi, star lecturer Kim Mi-kyung (CEO of Art Speech & Communication), John Lee (former CEO of Meritz Asset Management), Joo Jin-hyung (former CEO of Hanwha Investment & Securities), comedian-turned-investor Hwang Hyun-hee, and lawyer Han Sang-jun (Daegun Law Firm), held a press conference on the 22nd of last month urging platform operators and the government to make efforts to resolve the issue.

In a subsequent interview with Asia Economy, Kim and other Yusamo members estimated the cumulative scale of impersonation crimes at an average of 1 trillion won. They also assessed that the average damage per victim ranges from 150 million to 300 million won, with 1 to 2 people per week being extorted for amounts exceeding 1 to 3 billion won. The Economic Crime Investigation Division of the National Police Agency told this publication, "From September last year to February this year, over 2,500 cases of illegal activities, including 'celebrity impersonation scams' in investment leading chat rooms, were reported."

Meanwhile, on the 27th of last month, the government held a meeting of the inter-ministerial task force (TF) for eradicating illegal private financing and decided to apply a zero-tolerance principle in investigations related to the recently spreading 'celebrity impersonation advertisements' online.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.