[Celebrity Impersonation Scam] YouTube's "Dedicated Team Monitors False Advertising 24/7": How Effective Is It?

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Google, which operates YouTube, announced that it will permanently suspend advertising accounts impersonating celebrities immediately upon detection. This decision is largely influenced by the significant increase in phishing crimes on social networking services (SNS) such as YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook, where advertisements impersonating celebrities are used to lure people into ‘leading rooms.’ As victims of impersonation, including celebrities, raised their voices from various places, some criticize this as a belated ‘too little, too late’ measure, while others welcome it as a positive step, even if delayed.

Google recently changed its advertising policy to allow the suspension of advertiser accounts posting false information about products or services on portals and YouTube without prior notice. The policy now includes ‘acts of impersonating or falsely implying affiliation with public figures, brands, or organizations’ as grounds for account suspension. This means Google will crack down on the unauthorized use of celebrities’ names, faces, and deepfakes (AI-generated manipulated images or videos) unrelated to advertisements. Google stated, “If a policy violation is detected, the relevant Google advertising account will be suspended without prior warning, and the advertiser will be permanently barred from using advertising services again.” This is a stronger measure compared to previous cases where prior warnings were given before suspension.

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According to Google’s ‘2023 Advertising Safety Report,’ over 5.5 billion policy-violating ads were removed or blocked on Google platforms last year. Among these, about 200 million contained impersonation or fraudulent content. The number of advertiser accounts suspended for policy violations doubled from 6.7 million in 2022 to 12.7 million last year. Advertising is a core revenue source for Google, generating more than half of its total revenue last year?$175 billion (approximately 235.6 trillion KRW). However, due to the sharp rise in online phishing crimes impersonating celebrities on the platform, Google deemed stronger measures necessary.

YouTube told Asia Economy, “A dedicated team enforces this policy 24/7, deleting violating ads and suspending the advertiser accounts, taking firm action against fraudsters.”

The government has also taken action. Park Seong-jae, Minister of Justice, sees the widespread prevalence of voice phishing, online gambling, and celebrity impersonation online phishing crimes as rooted in a criminal justice system that does not meet global standards. At the Ministry of Justice’s weekly executive meeting on the 3rd, Minister Park expressed concern that such crimes have not been eradicated and said, “We will steadily prepare the necessary legal and institutional improvements.”

An image of a false impersonation advertisement posted by Hong Jin-kyung on her social networking service (SNS) [Photo by Hong Jin-kyung Instagram]

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While it is welcome that platforms have expressed their intention to directly crack down on and block fraudulent accounts, there are concerns that it is not easy to completely cover the blind spots where victim relief is difficult. There is consensus that not only should platforms strictly enforce crackdowns themselves, but also protective measures are needed to help victims who fall into these blind spots when harm occurs.

Han Sang-jun, a lawyer at the law firm Daegeon who has represented many victims deceived by advertisements, emphasized, “Although the platform’s dedicated team monitors 24 hours a day, weekend and nighttime responses are practically weak. Stronger policies and technical preemptive measures are needed for effective improvements.” Kim Mi-kyung, CEO of Art Speech & Communication and a member of the ‘Association for Solving Celebrity Impersonation Online Phishing Crimes’ (hereafter Yusamo), said, “In an era where accounts are one’s reputation and assets, related legislation to protect and regulate accounts must be enacted.”

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When the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) requests the Korea Communications Standards Commission to block false impersonation advertisements, it takes more than a week for actual blocking to occur. There is currently no way to stop phishing criminals who operate freely during that time. The FSS and other financial authorities are reportedly seeking countermeasures by referring to overseas cases. Last year, the UK passed the ‘Online Safety Act,’ which imposes fines of up to 10% of global annual revenue on platform operators that fail to block harmful content. The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has also established regulations in cooperation with Google and others to block unauthorized paid advertisements by financial companies online.

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