Google To Nix All Tech Support Provider Ads (itnews.com.au)

Google will restrict advertisements placed by third-party technical support providers, in an effort to stem a rising tide of abuse and fraud by scammers who offer to fix non-existent problems on consumers' computers. Report says: The restriction for tech support ads comes after Google collaborated with law enforcement and government agencies to address abuse in the area, the company's director of public policy David Graff wrote. All ads for technical support will be restricted worldwide, even for legitimate providers, Graff said. Google's banned such ads because the company finds it increasingly difficult to tell scammers from legitimate providers, as the fraudulent activity happens away from the company's platform.

Comments

So they're blocking...

[b0s0z0ku]

So they're blocking Windows and Mac support ads while keeping the "run to the cloud" cloud-migration partner ads? Seems like good business sense...

About Time

[scdeimos]

Here's hoping they nix the "You need updated 32/64-bit Windows Drivers" messages that keep overlaying YouTube videos, too. I don't even own a Windows computer.

Babys and Bathwater

[aldousd666]

I don't know about you, but my grandmother can't fix her own computer to save her own life. She NEEDS a tech support company. Are we really going to let some dipshit apples spoil the whole bunch for a giant swath of the public who NEEDS this kind of shit to even make Excel add the total of a column for them? We shouldn't. We should just tell people what to look for in a scammer. IE someone who calls you first about problems with your computer you didn't know you had. Also, someone claiming to be from 'Windows technical support' or anyone claiming to know shit about your computer, at all, preemptively. Just say no! teach anyone who owns a computer that, and you've instantly made it less profitable to be a scammer, and also potentially created tens of thousands of more hilarious youtube videos of people leading scammers on until they meet their inevitably obnoxious conclusion that you aren't falling for it. Sell Ads on THAT.

Re:Babys and Bathwater

[rossz]

The problem is there's only a couple of good apples at the bottom of a barrel filled with rotten ones. And good luck teaching your 80 year old grandmother how to avoid scams. The elderly are targeted because they are easy.