So far, its efforts have been quite successful
Not a day goes by that we do not encounter spam online. Whether it’s a few more junk emails in your inbox or a comment section filled with offers to make millions of dollars just by clicking on a suspicious link. As the Internet’s dominant company, it’s no surprise that Google takes spam and scams seriously. The company has just released its annual Webspam report, which summarizes all the efforts it has implemented to keep spam away from its search engine.
According to Google, its most effective tool against spam and fraud is an AI-based prevention system known as SpamBrain. The service, launched in 2018, can identify spam-filled websites up to six times as fast as it could in 2021, reducing hacked spam by 70% and junk spam found on hosting platforms by 75 percent.
Overall, Google says that more than 99% of searches are spam-free. Of course, we can not say the same about phone calls, which is probably why searches for “how to block spam calls” have increased more than 700% in the last five years. Investigation of SMS phishing and spam-filled group chats also hit all-time highs in the United States, where the latter has doubled over the past year. While Google can only do so much to push back against these unwanted phone calls – especially through Pixel-exclusive features – it’s clear that there’s plenty of work to be done still in this area. With a little luck, Android 13 will build some extra spam filtering features into the OS itself.
Google is also working to combat fraud, including some of the most searched campaigns like online dating and shopping scams. The company has reduced fraudulent results by 40% through updates to its algorithm that better detects inappropriate and malicious services, while changing how product reviews are ranked and qualified, leading to a reduction in overall low-quality feedback. It has even used SpamBrain to combat online harassment, especially when it comes to name queries where some users may try to target specific individuals.
It is clear that the fight against spam and fraud is never complete. Fortunately, Google takes it seriously when it comes to online search results.
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