![The Google logo will be seen at the Vivatech show in Paris on June 14, 2023.[AP/YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2024/04/01/d28f23ac-ff67-40b3-bbf2-5415637f32a4.jpg)
The Google logo will be seen at the Vivatech show in Paris on June 14, 2023.[AP/YONHAP]
As fraud cases are rapidly increasing in South Korea, Google has begun cracking down on fraudulent ads that illegally feature politicians, celebrities, and other public figures.
The US tech giant on March 28 outlined a new advertising policy on misrepresentation that prohibits advertising that impersonates or alludes to public figures, brands, or organizations.
If we detect a violation of this policy, we may immediately terminate your Google Ads account and prevent you from advertising with us again, without prior warning. ” he emphasized.
The aforementioned policy simply stated that deceptive ads that hide information about an advertiser's business, products, or services or provide false information to mislead users are not allowed. It also could have given offending advertisers either a warning or more time to challenge the violation.
The technology company said it will be able to use Google's large-scale language model Gemini, released last year, to examine advertisers' private inventory, including ads, websites and accounts.
Google's move comes in the wake of growing pressure from South Korea's antitrust regulators and South Korean celebrities who have been victims of misrepresentation.
On March 25, the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) filed a formal request to regulate the company's platform in this regard.
From October last year to January this year, politicians such as People's Power Party (PPP) leader Han Dong-hoon, celebrity chef Baek Jong-won, entertainers Yoo Jae-seok and Hong Jin-kyung gave guidance to chaebols. Countless public figures in South Korea participated. — According to the FTC, these were featured in fraudulent ads.
Last month, 137 South Korean celebrities also formed a group promoting online phishing crimes and held a press conference on March 22, calling on the government and big tech platforms to take action on the issue.
In response, the government established a separate task force on March 27 to investigate financial fraud crimes involving the unauthorized use of public figures' likenesses.
Google is the first Big Tech company to take steps to regulate such abuse, but others, such as Meta, remain stagnant.
Comedian and actor Hong Jin-kyung, who runs his own YouTube channel, warned subscribers about investment scams involving celebrities in a community post on Friday.
“Recently, there has been a sudden increase in scammers pretending to be me or other celebrities to solicit investments,'' he said, urging viewers and fans not to be fooled.
“The cost of such scams is estimated to exceed 1 trillion won ($741 million), but most of the scammers' accounts are located overseas, making it difficult to catch and punish the perpetrators. For now, we can only hope to remain cautious and rely on the technical power of platforms like Meta and Google to quickly detect and block deceptive ads.”
Written by Lee Jae Rim [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]
