In the last six months of 2010 alone, Google shut down approximately 50,000 AdWords accounts for attempting to advertise counterfeit goods, a Google executive said in a blog post Tuesday.
In the post, Google's Senior Vice President and General Counsel Kent Walker announced three initiatives to improve collaboration with brand owners to address the problem and prevent counterfeiters from abusing our services.
The include:
- Acting on reliable AdWords counterfeit complaints within 24 hours. In 2009, Google announced a new complaint form to make it fast and easy for brand owners to notify us of misuse. For brand owners who use this form responsibly, Google will reduce its average response time to 24 hours or less.
- Improving AdSense anti-counterfeit reviews. Google has always prohibited its AdSense partners from placing Google ads on sites that include or link to sales of counterfeit goods. The company will now work more closely with brand owners to identify infringers and, when appropriate, expel them from the AdSense programme.
- Introduce a new help centre page for reporting counterfeits. The page is designed to make it easier for users and brand owners to find forms to report abuse.
