Google has announced updates to its advertising policies, explicitly banning the promotion of websites and apps that generate such content. The new policy, set to take effect on May 30, 2024, aims to address the growing concerns surrounding the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to create manipulated sexually explicit material.
Under the updated Inappropriate Content Policy, advertisers will face immediate suspension without warning if found promoting sites or apps that facilitate the creation of deepfake porn, provide instructions on how to produce it, or endorse and compare various deepfake porn services. Violators will no longer be permitted to publish ads on Google platforms.
This move by Google reflects a proactive step in response to the rising availability of tools enabling users to create fabricated pornographic content. Some of these services reportedly operate under the guise of legitimate apps, gaining access to listings on platforms like the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, while openly advertising their capability to generate deepfake porn on social media channels.
While Google’s existing policies already impose restrictions on ads featuring certain types of sexual content, the updated policy leaves no ambiguity, explicitly prohibiting the promotion of “synthetic content that has been altered or generated to be sexually explicit or contain nudity.”
Prior to this broadened policy change, Google had already initiated measures to restrict services that produce sexually explicit deepfakes in Shopping ads. This ban encompasses deepfake porn tutorials and pages advertising deepfake porn generators.
Advertisers are provided with the opportunity to rectify any ads violating the new policy before its implementation date on May 30. In 2023 alone, Google reportedly removed over 1.8 billion ads for violating its policies on sexual content, as outlined in its annual Ads Safety report.