Google cracked down on 2.9 million ad accounts during India’s Lok Sabha election year
New Delhi: In a sweeping global crackdown on digital advertising violations, Google said that it took down over 2.9 million ad accounts originating from India during the 2024 Lok Sabha election year.
The tech giant disclosed this data in its 2024 Ads Safety Report, noting a significant increase in enforcement actions compared to the previous year. As cited by The Indian Express on Thursday, Google blocked or removed more than 10.7 million election-related ads from unverified advertisers globally—up 46 percent from 7.3 million in 2023.
“The volume of election ads compared to our overall numbers is very small. But it’s a very important set, which is why we take additional focus on election ads. The big outlier at the top-level is accounts suspended, and those were more for broader concerns around scams or fraud,” IE report quoted Alex Rodriguez, General Manager, Ads Safety, Google, as saying.
Although Rodriguez declined to disclose the percentage of overall election ads in 2024, he emphasised that 2024 saw numerous political parties spending substantial sums of money on digital advertising campaigns in the run up to the general elections.
According to the saffron party’s expenditure report on contesting the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)—which returned to power for a third consecutive term—spent Rs 156.95 crore on advertisements through Google-owned platforms, and an additional Rs 24.63 crore on Meta platforms.
Google said that it blocked or removed a total of 5.1 billion ads last year and 39.2 million advertiser accounts globally, a dramatic increase from 12.7 million advertiser accounts in 2023, the report added. Out of the 39.2 million, around 2.9 million suspended ad accounts were registered in India. The majority of these accounts were taken down before they served a single ad, the search giant clarified.
A concerning trend identified in 2024 was the rise in public figure impersonation scams, where malicious actors used AI-generated images and audio to falsely an affiliation from celebrities or politicians. Rodriguez noted that these elements were promoted widely as advertisements on Google’s platforms.
Apart from removing policy-violating ads, Google also restricts content that may be legally contentious or culturally inappropriate based on the audience and the region.
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Telangana CM urges Amit Shah to increase sanctioned strength of IPS officers in state
Hyderabad (PTI): Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi on Wednesday night and urged him to increase the sanctioned strength of IPS officers to the state in view of its growing administrative and security needs.
The two leaders also discussed the recent surrender of several senior Maoist leaders before the Telangana Police and other issues.
"During the meeting, the two leaders discussed the issue of Maoist surrenders and their rehabilitation. The chief minister informed Shah that significant improvements in policing have taken place in Telangana over the past two years," an official release here said.
Highlighting that 591 Maoists have laid down their arms and joined the mainstream of society during this period, the chief minister said the state government was providing them compensation and rehabilitation assistance as per the rules.
He requested the Union home minister to extend financial support from the central government for development works in the backward regions of the state.
Reddy also urged Shah to increase the sanctioned strength of IPS officers to the state from 83 to 105 in line with the state's growing administrative and security needs, the statement said.
The first cadre review after the formation of Telangana was conducted in 2016, while the next review, due in 2021, was delayed and finally carried out in 2025. Even then, only seven additional IPS officers were allocated to the state, the chief minister informed Shah and requested that the third cadre review be conducted in 2026 as per the schedule.
Reddy explained that Telangana, like the rest of the country, is facing several modern challenges, including cybercrime, drug trafficking, white-collar crimes, and other emerging security threats.
He highlighted the reorganisation of the Hyderabad, Cyberabad, and Malkajgiri Police Commissionerates, the proposed formation of the Future City Commissionerate and the rapidly growing population in Hyderabad to underline the increasing administrative requirements of the state.
