Giugno, 2022

Combating financial fraud in advertising is a top priority. And to do our part in this cross-industry effort, we’re constantly developing new tools and policies that help better protect the people who use our products and our advertising partners from bad actors.

Today we’re updating Google’s financial products and services policy to expand our verification program for financial services advertisers to new countries and markets. This measure creates a new layer of security against fraudsters and will help further safeguard our network from financial scams.

We first launched this program in the UK in September 2021, where financial services advertisers are already required to demonstrate that they’re authorized by the UK Financial Conduct Authority or qualify for one of the limited exemptions described on the UK Financial Services verification page. Since we launched this policy in the UK, we’ve seen a pronounced decline in reports of ads promoting financial scams. The success of this program in the UK demonstrates that this is a meaningful and impactful solution to safeguarding people online and gives us the confidence to expand verification to additional countries.

We’ll be rolling out this policy in phases, beginning with Australia, Singapore and Taiwan. As part of the verification process, financial services advertisers in these markets will need to demonstrate that they are authorized by their relevant financial services regulator, and have completed Google’s advertiser verification program in order to begin promoting their products and services. Advertisers will be able to apply for verification at the end of June, and the policy will go into effect on August 30, 2022. Advertisers that have not completed the new verification process by this date will no longer be allowed to promote financial services.

We work tirelessly to make sure the ads we serve are safe and trustworthy, and we know that partnering and collaborating with government regulators is critical to our success. That’s why we’re closely coordinating with regulators in these three markets to make sure this program is effective at scale. In the coming months, we plan to further expand these verification requirements to advertisers in additional countries and regions.

This policy is just the latest step in our longstanding effort to tackle online fraud. We have robust policies in place to prohibit bad actors from deceiving people through tactics such as phishing, using clickbait, or providing misleading information about a product, service or business. We also have strict rules about how advertisers can market financial products such as loans and debt services. Our teams continue to vigorously enforce these policies and combat scammers, using both machine learning and human reviewers to block bad ads. In 2021 alone, we blocked or removed more than 58.9 million ads for violating our financial services policies. And in 2020, we launched our advertiser verification program that will require Google advertisers to verify and disclose information about their businesses, such as where they operate and what they’re selling or promoting. This transparency feature is now live in more than 180 countries and helps people learn more about the company and services behind a specific ad.

We remain committed to this effort and will continue to collaborate with industry and government organizations to lead on necessary changes that help fight evolving tactics from bad actors.

Editor’s note: You can also read this blog inSpanishandPortuguese.

I’ve always believed technology is a powerful enabler for businesses and communities. During the pandemic, we’ve seen how digital tools have helped create jobs and make economies more resilient and sustainable. This is especially true in emerging markets, where an entrepreneurial spirit and new pathways for innovation can unleash enormous economic opportunity.

At Google, we see that potential today in Latin America. Communities have been hit hard by the pandemic, and closing digital access gaps will be vital to an inclusive recovery. At the same time, according to a new report from the Economist, increased investment and a policy focus on AI technologies can unlock new opportunities, from health care and sustainable agriculture to financial services and more.

As we shared in our Digital Sprinters report, digital transformation will require investment by governments and the private sector in infrastructure, people, technological innovation and public policies. In Latin America, realizing the full potential of digital technologies could generate an annual economic impact of up to $1.37 trillion by 2030 in six of the region’s largest economies, or 23% of these countries’ combined GDPs.

We’ve been investing in Latin America over the last 17 years, and today we’re announcing a five-year, $1.2 billion commitment to the region. We will focus on four areas where we believe we can best help the region to thrive: digital infrastructure, digital skills, entrepreneurship and inclusive, sustainable communities.

Investing in digital infrastructure

We’ve been investing to improve connectivity and increase Latin America’s access to digital services, including Google products like Search, Gmail and YouTube, as well as Google Cloud. The Firmina subsea cable, named after Brazilian abolitionist Maria Firmina dos Reis, will be the world’s largest subsea cable, capable of operating from a single power source at one end of the cable if needed. When completed in 2023, it will run from the U.S. to Argentina, with additional landings in Brazil and Uruguay. Firmina follows three other significant cable investments in Latin America — Monet, Tannat and Curie — which together bring more reliable connectivity to the region.

Our Google Cloud Regions in Santiago, Chile, and São Paulo, Brazil, are giving businesses access to compute power and services that enable them to succeed in the digital economy. For example, Tembici, a Brazilian startup that offers bike sharing services in major cities across Latin America, runs its operations on Google Cloud — supporting its regional expansion.

Looking ahead, our Cloud Regions will continue to help more organizations accelerate their digital transformation and build towards long-term growth. We will also increase our engineering footprint in Brazil. These new roles — with a focus on essential areas like privacy and security — will help us create better products for the region and the world.

Expanding opportunity through digital skills

Digital skills are key to unlocking opportunities for the next generation. Through our Grow with Google program and Google.org grantees, we’ve trained nearly eight million people across Latin America in digital skills since 2017.

To build on this momentum, today we’re announcing that we’ll provide Google Career Certificate scholarships to one million people in Latin America. This training will help people access well-paying jobs in high-growth fields.

Supporting startups and small businesses

There is huge momentum behind tech entrepreneurship throughout Latin America. When we opened our Google for Startups campus in Brazil in 2016, there were no “unicorns,” startups valued at $1 billion or more, in the region. Today, there are 35, including 13 unicorns that have been part of Google for Startups programs. With investment, resources and training from Google for Startups, we have supported more than 450 startups in the region. These startups have gone on to raise more than $9 billion in investments, creating 25,000 jobs.

One example is Oliver Pets, an Argentinian startup that, with support from Google for Startups, was able to launch virtual veterinary care through their app and expand to Mexico and other parts of Latin America.

We’re also seeing how our products and services are helping small businesses thrive in difficult times. When Fátima Álvarez, the co-founder of Mexican startup Someone Somewhere, closed her retail shops during the pandemic, she turned to digital tools like Google Workspace and Google Ads to keep her clothing business running online.

Building more inclusive and sustainable communities

Through our philanthropic arm, Google.org, we’ve been supporting organizations like Laboratoria in Peru, Asociación Colnodo in Colombia and Instituto Rede Mulher Empreendedora in Brazil to make sure underserved communities also benefit from digital transformation.

Today Google.org is announcing $300 million over the next five years, comprised of $50 million in cash grants and $250 million in donated ads, to support nonprofits focused on areas like sustainability and economic opportunity for women and young people. For example, a $2 million Google.org grant to Pro Mujer will help Indigenous women-led businesses in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras access microloans and digital skills training.

Across these commitments, we are partnering with governments, entrepreneurs and businesses to support sustainable, resilient and equitable growth. It’s exciting to see Latin America emerge as a hub of innovation, and we look forward to creating even more economic opportunities for those who call it home.

At Google we use technologies like machine learning (ML) to build more useful products — from filtering out email spam, to keeping maps up to date, to offering more relevant search results. Chrome is no exception: We use ML to make web images more accessible to people who are blind or have low vision, and we also generate real-time captions for online videos, in service of people in noisy environments, and those who are hard of hearing.

This work in Chrome continues, so we wanted to share some recent and future ML improvements that offer a safer, more accessible and more personalized browsing experience. Importantly: these updates are powered by on-device ML models, which means your data stays private, and never leaves your device.

More peace of mind, less annoying prompts

Safe Browsing in Chrome helps protect billions of devices every day, by showing warnings when people try to navigate to dangerous sites or download dangerous files (see the big red example below). Starting in March of this year, we rolled out a new ML model that identifies 2.5 times more potentially malicious sites and phishing attacks as the previous model – resulting in a safer and more secure web.

To further improve the browsing experience, we’re also evolving how people interact with web notifications. On the one hand, page notifications help deliver updates from sites you care about; on the other hand, notification permission prompts can become a nuisance. To help people browse the web with minimal interruption, Chrome predicts when permission prompts are unlikely to be granted based on how the user previously interacted with similar permission prompts, and silences these undesired prompts. In the next release of Chrome, we’re launching an ML model that makes these predictions entirely on-device.

Finding what’s important, always in your language

Earlier this year we launched Journeys to help people retrace their steps online. For example: You might spend weeks planning a national park visit – researching attractions, comparing flights and shopping for gear. With ML and Journeys, Chrome brings together the pages you’ve visited about a given topic, and makes it easy to pick up where you left off (vs. scr o o o l l ling through your browser history).

When you return to those hiking boots and camping guides, we’re also using ML to make those websites available in your preferred language. In particular, we’ve launched an updated language identification model to figure out the language of the page, and whether it needs to be translated to match your preferences. As a result, we’re seeing tens of millions more successful translations every day.

A browser built just for you

Maybe you like to read news articles in the morning – phone in one hand, cereal spoon in the other – so you share lots of links from Chrome. Or maybe voice search is more your thing, as you sneak in a few questions during your transit ride to work. Either way, we want to make sure Chrome is meeting you where you’re at, so in the near future, we’ll be using ML to adjust the toolbar in real-time – highlighting the action that’s most useful in that moment (e.g., share link, voice search, etc.). Of course, you’ll be able to customize it manually as well.

Our goal is to build a browser that’s genuinely and continuously helpful, and we’re excited about the possibilities that ML provides. At the end of the day, though, your experience is what really matters, so please tweet @googlechrome to send us your feedback.

Growing up, I faced a big decision every year — which new video game would I put on my birthday list? I could rarely try out a new game before buying it, so this was always a risky (and stressful) choice.

Within the past decade, though, internet-connected devices have made those choices a lot easier by helping us quickly discover new games and entertainment. With cloud gaming in particular, players can try out a new adventure in just one click — without waiting for downloads or installs.

Immersive Stream for Games, Google’s cloud gaming technology, powers both our Stadia gaming platform and publishers’ ability to deliver games directly to their players. And today, Immersive Stream for Games is supporting world-renowned publisher Capcom with their launch of a cloud demo for their award-winning survival horror game, Resident Evil Village. More players than ever can now try the game in seconds on Capcom’s website via their computer browser, compatible smartphone or tablet at no additional cost. Explore Castle Dimitrescu and its mysterious Village within the demo for as long as you want, and as many times as you dare…

Click to Play discovery and trial

Our goal is to reduce the amount of time and effort it takes to access games so that players can quickly discover new worlds and adventures. With Immersive Stream, publishers can deliver games for their players to try in seconds. For example, in the past year, AT&T used Immersive Stream to make Control Ultimate Edition and Batman™: Arkham Knight available for their customers to play. With the power of AT&T’s 5G network, customers have been able to easily try these two award-winning games in full, at home or on the go.

For Capcom, Immersive Stream helps them experiment with cloud gaming to deliver a AAA gaming experience directly to new and current players using devices they already own. For example, after trying the new cloud demo on Capcom’s official website, players can find available platforms to purchase the full game and continue playing, or uncover recent news and info.

Immersive Stream also powered the launch of Stadia, showcasing how a dedicated cloud gaming platform can help players discover more than 200 games and counting without waiting for downloads or installs. Today, we’re continuing to explore new ways for Stadia players to easily find and try new content.

Fifteen trials of full games are now available on Stadia for players to explore at no additional cost and without creating a Stadia account — with more trials coming this year. For some players, Stadia’s Click to Play Trials are an easy way to try cloud gaming for the first time. For others, they’re a chance to check out a new gameplay genre or play a new game they’ve been on the fence about purchasing.

The future of exploration and play

Immersive Stream for Games makes games more immediately accessible for players across more devices — with the ability to choose how and where they want to play. And compared to the challenges of in-person industry events, cloud gaming is unique in its ability to help publishers deliver their games for players to discover and try in seconds. Our work with customers like Capcom and AT&T, as well as our own ongoing development of Stadia, gets us that much closer to helping players around the world easily explore new adventures.

Welcome to the latest edition of “My Path to Google,” where we talk to Googlers, interns and alumni about how they got to Google, what their roles are like and how they prepared for interviews.

Today’s post features Ken Zhang, a New York City-based account strategist, a member of our PRIDE at Google employee resource group and an advocate for LGBTQ+ Googlers.

What’s your role at Google?

I’m the U.S. East Coast Lead of the Scaled Account Strategist cohort on the Google Customer Solutions (GCS) team. In other words, I do account management. I work with a range of clients, from some of the nation’s top marketing agencies to small community businesses, to advise on ways they can grow their accounts using Google Ads. Outside of my core role, I also serve on the board for the PRIDE at Google chapter within GCS, a group for Googlers in our organization who identify as LGBTQ+ or allies.

Can you tell us a bit more about yourself?

I’m a first-generation Asian American and a member of the LGBTQ+ community. I actually grew up next to Google’s Irvine campus in California — which first inspired me to want to work here! After high school, I studied economics at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) — go Tritons! At UCSD, I won a scholarship from the Prism Foundation, which uplifts LGBTQ+ Asian and Pacific Islanders by raising funds and mobilizing resources to eliminate social, economic and structural barriers to success. Through this scholarship, I met several board members who worked at Google and encouraged me to apply. During college, I also attended Out for Undergrad’s Tech Conference, which is designed to inspire LGBTQ+ students to pursue ambitious careers. There, I met even more mentors who spoke highly of Google’s culture, particularly the amount of LGBTQ+ Googlers in leadership positions.

What does your typical workday look like right now?

When I go to the office, my typical day starts with a bike ride to work. Once I arrive, I usually grab coffee with my coworkers before going through my inbox. The rest of my day varies depending on deadlines and client needs. This can include preparing for client calls, attending trainings on topics like the future of ads measurement, speaking to customers about potential solutions for reaching performance targets, and blocking off time for deep focus. I also try to use my lunch time to meet fellow Googlers. The amazing people I get to work with make my job feel like college again in the best ways possible.

What motivates you to log in every day?

I’m motivated to do this work because both my core role and my PRIDE at GCS role allow me to give back. My work as a Scaled Account Strategist is so rewarding because I can help small businesses grow. And I love my involvement with PRIDE at GCS because of the impact we make in our local communities and for Googlers through efforts like career mentorship programs, allyship trainings and volunteer opportunities to support LGBTQ+-owned businesses here in New York.

How did the application and interview process go for you?

I interviewed and started at Google during the beginning of the pandemic, so all of my interviews were virtual. But surprisingly, that didn’t affect my connection with my interviewers! I remember during my final video interview with my soon-to-be manager, he was still able to paint a beautiful and honest image of Google’s culture. This made me feel connected to him and the company as a whole.

Can you tell us about the resources you used to prepare for your interview or role?

Google has some great online classes to develop skills for high-demand roles. I personally took courses on Google Ads to prepare for my interviews. They taught me the fundamentals of Google’s Search, Display, Shopping and Video platforms, which helped me better frame my answers during interviews. My recruiter also spoke about the importance of using the S.T.A.R. method — the process of answering questions by highlighting the situation, task, action and result.

Any tips you’d like to share with aspiring Googlers?

Don’t be afraid to be yourself! The support I’ve received from teammates has propelled me to do my best work. Last year, I participated in an internal panel during Pride Month and was blown away by the heartwarming messages I received from Googlers I hadn’t even met. In fact, if I could go back in time and give myself one tip before applying, it’d be to get ready to meet so many new role models and make friends I deeply care about.

This bulletin includes coordinated influence operation campaigns terminated on our platforms in Q2 2022. It was last updated on June 9, 2022.

April

• We terminated 138 YouTube channels and 2 Ads accounts as part of our investigation into coordinated influence operations linked to Russia. The campaign was linked to a Russian consulting firm and was sharing content in Russian that was supportive of Russia’s actions in Ukraine and Russian President Vladimir Putin and critical of NATO, Ukraine, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
• We terminated 44 YouTube channels and 9 Ads accounts as part of our investigation into coordinated influence operations linked to Russia. The campaign was linked to the Internet Research Agency (IRA) and was sharing content in Russian, French, Arabic, and Chinese that was supportive of Russia’s 2014 invasion of Crimea and the Wagner Group’s activity in Ukraine and Africa.
• We terminated 6 YouTube channels as part of our investigation into coordinated influence operations linked to Russia. The campaign was linked to Russian state-sponsored entities and was sharing content in Russian that was supportive of pro-Russian activity in Ukraine and critical of Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny.
• We terminated 3 YouTube channels and 1 AdSense account and blocked 1 domain from eligibility to appear on Google News surfaces and Discover as part of our investigation into coordinated influence operations linked to Slovakia and Germany. The campaign was sharing content in Slovak that was supportive of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russia’s claimed justifications for its invasion of Ukraine. We received leads from Mandiant that supported us in this investigation.
• We terminated 37 YouTube accounts and 1 Ads account and blocked 2 domains from eligibility to appear on Google News surfaces and Discover as part of our investigation into coordinated influence operations linked to Costa Rica. The campaign was linked to Noelix Media and was sharing content in Spanish that was critical of Costa Rican and Salvadoran politicians and political parties. Our findings are similar to findings reported by Meta.
• We terminated 1,546 YouTube channels as part of our ongoing investigation into coordinated influence operations linked to China. These channels mostly uploaded spammy content in Chinese about music, entertainment, and lifestyle. A very small subset uploaded content in Chinese and English about China and U.S. foreign affairs. These findings are consistent with our previous reports.