5 ms·

I have reported these ads to YouTube multiple times, because I tracked down their scam websites, but YouTube didn't delete them anyway. Common pattern they had

I have reported these ads to YouTube multiple times, because I tracked down their scam websites, but YouTube didn't delete them anyway. Common pattern they had was: - similar or same domains - same messaging on their website YouTube could have taken action, but it choose not to

nrhrjrjrjtntbt 10mo ago
Google, the worlds biggest and best coconspiritor.
- actionfromafar 10mo ago
  That's so Meta.
throwaw12 10mo ago
They also had a pattern of loudly crying kids in the beginning of the video, I thought they were faking, after a month they changed the style of start.
Andrew_nenakhov 10mo ago
There was a period when I was constantly showered with these ads whenever I visited YouTube. It quickly became clear that it was some kind of scam, but YouTube didn't do anything about it for years.
- zaphirplane 10mo ago
  Does clicking on the ad cost the spammer a lot of money
  - LadyCailin 10mo ago
    Yes, which is one of two reasons why I use a blocker called adnauseum. It an adv locker that “clicks” on every single ad it sees, as well as hides it from my view. This makes my ad profile useless, and also costs them money.
    - binary132 10mo ago
      you should probably think about the fact that ad platforms expect and design for fraudulent and bot clicks before you assume that this actually costs anyone money.
    - b3ing 10mo ago
      Won’t Google ban your account if they notice this
      - gervwyk 10mo ago
        As per other comments, if it’s making them money, why bother banning it
    - rationalist 10mo ago
      > This makes my ad profile useless I have a theory that it doesn't. Which set of companies' logic is more likely?: Is LadyCailin a "tree-hugging liberal"? LadyCailin clicked on a lot of Sierra Club and PETA ads, so yes. Good, we will add LadyCailin to this list. Is LadyCailin an "extremist right-wing nazi"? LadyCailin clicked on a lot of prepper and gold ads, so yes. Good, we will *also* add LadyCailin to this other list. OR Is LadyCailin a "tree-hugging liberal"? Well, they clicked on these ads, so we think so, but then they clicked on these other ads, so we're not sure. Then she clicked on these other ads, now we don't have any idea. Speaking from personal experience: Because some people have used my phone number and email address as their own, I get emails for one political party and text messages for the other political party. It doesn't make my ad profile useless to the people sending me ads. Give your phone number to both U.S. political parties. Congratulations you will get spammed by both. I doubt they are cross-checking.
    - phatfish 10mo ago
      The question is, is the scammer taking donations from kids with cancer or Google the more worthy entity to profit from the situation? It's a tough decision.
  - deleted 10mo ago
    [deleted]
  - 0_gravitas 10mo ago
    Depends on bot-detection and if its a CPC or CPA campaign
yalok 10mo ago
In my experience, anything related to Google Ads - they never reacts to any claims of scam… Their incentives contradict healthy behavior… :(
jjcob 10mo ago
I'm still waiting for the tech world to wake up and realise that the online ad machinery and user tracking software that the brightest minds of our generation have been working on are just a way to efficiently connect scammers with their unsuspecting victims.
- tgsovlerkhgsel 10mo ago
  I'm waiting for the non-tech world to wake up and hold companies that act as willing accomplices liable for the crimes they tolerate on their platforms.
  - 1718627440 10mo ago
    > the crimes they tolerate on their platforms. ... the crimes they actually make a lot of money from.
- pjc50 10mo ago
  Oh, they know that. It's very lucrative. At this point it's scams all the way up to the US presidential cryptocurrency. However it's also a tricky business to be the adjudicator of what is and isn't a scam. You're going to have to deal with a lot of complaints from "legitimate businessmen".
- 1718627440 10mo ago
  It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it.
  - binary132 10mo ago
    (but enough about LLM shills)
- felixyz 10mo ago
  The tech world knows this. They are raking in money off of these scams. People with a rudimentary moral compass leave, those without stay, which makes it even less likely that industry will self-sanitize. The rest of society, out of survival instinct if nothing else, will have to force it to stop anti-social and fraudulent practices. Same as many other industries.
CGamesPlay 10mo ago
Once you realize how profitable it is, it's hard to stop. https://www.cnbc.com/2025/11/06/meta-reportedly-projected-10percent-of-2024-sales-came-from-scam-fraud-ads.html https://www.cnbc.com/2025/11/06/meta-reportedly-projected-10...
- gmerc 10mo ago
  see Meta, which is operating like a crime syndicate, leveraging higher fees on scammers "to discourage" them, retaining their impact on supply side auction prices and well knowing many don't pay with their own credit cards. https://www.reuters.com/investigations/meta-tolerates-rampant-ad-fraud-china-safeguard-billions-revenue-2025-12-15/ https://www.reuters.com/investigations/meta-tolerates-rampan...
  - deaux 10mo ago
    They didn't care about being a huge driver behind a genocide, why would they possibly care about people getting scammed out of cancer fundraiser donations. Once you find out that someone has worked at any point for Meta past say, 2020, you know everything you need about them. [1] https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2022/09/myanmar-facebooks-systems-promoted-violence-against-rohingya-meta-owes-reparations-new-report/ https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2022/09/myanmar-faceb...
BoredPositron 10mo ago
Same. Even if they delete one it's usually delayed for 2-3 days. The worst part about scam ads is that they surface a day later from a different account with 0 changes to the ads themselves. You would think Google would fingerprint the assets but in the end they just don't care.
benchly 10mo ago
There's no incentive for them to comply with your request. Like Facebook, scam ads are a revenue stream for Google. The profitability usually offsets any negative PR or fallout that results from these platforms turning a blind eye to the point where their budget accounts for some percentage of scam income, leaving them to pick and choose when to take action while they actively make their platform increasingly hostile to users who want to protect themselves from said ads.
oefrha 10mo ago
Scams are extremely high margin businesses and as such can spend very generously on advertising. Consequently the Googles of our world love them.
eleveriven 10mo ago
What's most depressing is that people like you did the right thing (took the time to investigate and report) and still hit a wall
throw310822 10mo ago
What struck me is that when I reported an ad with an Elon Musk deepfake selling some crypto scam, I got an email back from Google saying that after reviewing the video they found nothing wrong. I don't understand how this is not actionable in court- I mean, you did act on a report, you declare you manually reviewed the content and that it's good for you? I don't get it.
htrp 10mo ago
reminder that according to Facebook's own analysis 10% of their 2024 revenue comes from scams and banned products
ryukoposting 10mo ago
Yep. Lately I've been getting dozens of scam ads for pulse oximeters being sold as Glucose meters, with a big ol' FDA logo plastered over the top of the video. A flagrant violation of regulations around medical device marketing. Here's Google's response: We understand you are concerned about the content in question, but please note that Google's services host third-party content. Google is not a creator or mediator of that content. We encourage you to resolve any disputes directly with the individual who posted the content. ...which is a lie, among other things.

nrhrjrjrjtntbt 10mo ago

Google, the worlds biggest and best coconspiritor.

actionfromafar 10mo ago
That's so Meta.

throwaw12 10mo ago

They also had a pattern of loudly crying kids in the beginning of the video, I thought they were faking, after a month they changed the style of start.

Andrew_nenakhov 10mo ago

There was a period when I was constantly showered with these ads whenever I visited YouTube. It quickly became clear that it was some kind of scam, but YouTube didn't do anything about it for years.

zaphirplane 10mo ago
Does clicking on the ad cost the spammer a lot of money
- LadyCailin 10mo ago
  Yes, which is one of two reasons why I use a blocker called adnauseum. It an adv locker that “clicks” on every single ad it sees, as well as hides it from my view. This makes my ad profile useless, and also costs them money.
  - binary132 10mo ago
    you should probably think about the fact that ad platforms expect and design for fraudulent and bot clicks before you assume that this actually costs anyone money.
  - b3ing 10mo ago
    Won’t Google ban your account if they notice this
    - gervwyk 10mo ago
      As per other comments, if it’s making them money, why bother banning it
  - rationalist 10mo ago
    > This makes my ad profile useless I have a theory that it doesn't. Which set of companies' logic is more likely?: Is LadyCailin a "tree-hugging liberal"? LadyCailin clicked on a lot of Sierra Club and PETA ads, so yes. Good, we will add LadyCailin to this list. Is LadyCailin an "extremist right-wing nazi"? LadyCailin clicked on a lot of prepper and gold ads, so yes. Good, we will *also* add LadyCailin to this other list. OR Is LadyCailin a "tree-hugging liberal"? Well, they clicked on these ads, so we think so, but then they clicked on these other ads, so we're not sure. Then she clicked on these other ads, now we don't have any idea. Speaking from personal experience: Because some people have used my phone number and email address as their own, I get emails for one political party and text messages for the other political party. It doesn't make my ad profile useless to the people sending me ads. Give your phone number to both U.S. political parties. Congratulations you will get spammed by both. I doubt they are cross-checking.
  - phatfish 10mo ago
    The question is, is the scammer taking donations from kids with cancer or Google the more worthy entity to profit from the situation? It's a tough decision.
- deleted 10mo ago
  [deleted]
- 0_gravitas 10mo ago
  Depends on bot-detection and if its a CPC or CPA campaign

yalok 10mo ago

In my experience, anything related to Google Ads - they never reacts to any claims of scam… Their incentives contradict healthy behavior… :(

jjcob 10mo ago

I'm still waiting for the tech world to wake up and realise that the online ad machinery and user tracking software that the brightest minds of our generation have been working on are just a way to efficiently connect scammers with their unsuspecting victims.

tgsovlerkhgsel 10mo ago
I'm waiting for the non-tech world to wake up and hold companies that act as willing accomplices liable for the crimes they tolerate on their platforms.
- 1718627440 10mo ago
  > the crimes they tolerate on their platforms. ... the crimes they actually make a lot of money from.
pjc50 10mo ago
Oh, they know that. It's very lucrative. At this point it's scams all the way up to the US presidential cryptocurrency. However it's also a tricky business to be the adjudicator of what is and isn't a scam. You're going to have to deal with a lot of complaints from "legitimate businessmen".
1718627440 10mo ago
It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it.
- binary132 10mo ago
  (but enough about LLM shills)
felixyz 10mo ago
The tech world knows this. They are raking in money off of these scams. People with a rudimentary moral compass leave, those without stay, which makes it even less likely that industry will self-sanitize. The rest of society, out of survival instinct if nothing else, will have to force it to stop anti-social and fraudulent practices. Same as many other industries.

CGamesPlay 10mo ago

Once you realize how profitable it is, it's hard to stop. https://www.cnbc.com/2025/11/06/meta-reportedly-projected-10percent-of-2024-sales-came-from-scam-fraud-ads.html https://www.cnbc.com/2025/11/06/meta-reportedly-projected-10...

gmerc 10mo ago
see Meta, which is operating like a crime syndicate, leveraging higher fees on scammers "to discourage" them, retaining their impact on supply side auction prices and well knowing many don't pay with their own credit cards. https://www.reuters.com/investigations/meta-tolerates-rampant-ad-fraud-china-safeguard-billions-revenue-2025-12-15/ https://www.reuters.com/investigations/meta-tolerates-rampan...
- deaux 10mo ago
  They didn't care about being a huge driver behind a genocide, why would they possibly care about people getting scammed out of cancer fundraiser donations. Once you find out that someone has worked at any point for Meta past say, 2020, you know everything you need about them. [1] https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2022/09/myanmar-facebooks-systems-promoted-violence-against-rohingya-meta-owes-reparations-new-report/ https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2022/09/myanmar-faceb...

BoredPositron 10mo ago

Same. Even if they delete one it's usually delayed for 2-3 days. The worst part about scam ads is that they surface a day later from a different account with 0 changes to the ads themselves. You would think Google would fingerprint the assets but in the end they just don't care.

benchly 10mo ago

There's no incentive for them to comply with your request. Like Facebook, scam ads are a revenue stream for Google. The profitability usually offsets any negative PR or fallout that results from these platforms turning a blind eye to the point where their budget accounts for some percentage of scam income, leaving them to pick and choose when to take action while they actively make their platform increasingly hostile to users who want to protect themselves from said ads.

oefrha 10mo ago

Scams are extremely high margin businesses and as such can spend very generously on advertising. Consequently the Googles of our world love them.

eleveriven 10mo ago

What's most depressing is that people like you did the right thing (took the time to investigate and report) and still hit a wall

throw310822 10mo ago

What struck me is that when I reported an ad with an Elon Musk deepfake selling some crypto scam, I got an email back from Google saying that after reviewing the video they found nothing wrong. I don't understand how this is not actionable in court- I mean, you did act on a report, you declare you manually reviewed the content and that it's good for you? I don't get it.

htrp 10mo ago

reminder that according to Facebook's own analysis 10% of their 2024 revenue comes from scams and banned products

ryukoposting 10mo ago

Yep. Lately I've been getting dozens of scam ads for pulse oximeters being sold as Glucose meters, with a big ol' FDA logo plastered over the top of the video. A flagrant violation of regulations around medical device marketing. Here's Google's response: We understand you are concerned about the content in question, but please note that Google's services host third-party content. Google is not a creator or mediator of that content. We encourage you to resolve any disputes directly with the individual who posted the content. ...which is a lie, among other things.