Google’s Policy Change for Advertisements related to Drug and Alcohol Abuse
Odds are you have used Google at least once. While using Google Search, you will see that for particular searches, Google “generates” Ads based on keywords that were typed in. In class, we learned about the behind the scenes actions that are taken in order for these Ads to show up, including the roles of Ad Slots, Clickthrough Rates, and the Matching Market based around Advertisers and Ad Slots. In lecture, we also discussed the importance of how the Advertising industry makes money. This is solely based on the fact that this market is based around a Second Price Auction, bidding on the different Ad Slots (how Google makes money), and for every advertisement put on the web, each click generates a certain amount of money for the Advertiser, a ‘Pay per Click’ policy. The interesting thing about this market, is that it is highly technical, with keywords that can trigger certain ads to show up rather than others.
This year, we have seen a raising awareness towards the problem with Addiction help ads, specifically using Google’s search engine. With the rise of drug addiction in the United States, there has been an increase in search’s online to try and find help for different drug or alcohol addictions. While searching for these resources, keywords like “drug rehab” or “alcohol treatment center” can produce ads which target and trick this specific audience into enrolling in a treatment center in a different state, misleading treatment providers who route the user to the Advertiser willing to pay for the top Ad Slot (who potentially doesn’t have the best treatment). Some of these treatment providers “have been willing to pay $70 per ad click” which may seem steep, but “addicts who sign up for 30 days of residential treatment” based off of that ad, can potentially bring in tens of thousands of dollars from private insurance. These companies have outbid and “hijacked” the Advertisement system so that honest companies who are trying to help people get the treatment they need don’t even have a chance. This is why on the week of September 14, 2017, Google changed its policy on advertisements related to the treatment of drug and alcohol addiction, by restricting ads that come up when we search for words relating to drug or alcohol addiction. In fact, as of this date, Google has stopped selling ads for the keyword searches of “drug rehab” or “alcohol treatment center” in order to protect its users from being tricked into clicking ads of deceitful origin. Even though putting a restriction on these certain keywords may financially affect Google, the hope is that they will end up improving the level of care being sought out by addicts.
Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/14/business/google-addiction-treatment-ads.html?_r=1