Google blocked 1.7bn ads last year, double the amount it took down in 2015, which breached its AdWords policies across the internet.

Google says the increase in amount of blocked ads was down to it expanding its policies to ‘better protect users from misleading and predatory offers’, and the beefing up of its technology to identify and disable bad ads faster.

“A free and open web is a vital resource for people and businesses around the world. And ads play a key role in ensuring you have access to accurate, quality information online,” said Scott Spencer, director of product management for Google’s Sustainable Ads, in a blog post. “But bad ads can ruin the online experience for everyone. They promote illegal products and unrealistic offers. They can trick people into sharing personal information and infect devices with harmful software. Ultimately, bad ads pose a threat to users, Google’s partners, and the sustainability of the open web itself.”

Of the 1.7bn ads removed by Google, it reports that nearly 80m of them were removed for ‘deceiving, misleading and shocking users’, while over 68m of the ads were in breach of healthcare violations – up from 12.5m in 2015. More than 17m ads were taken down for illegal gambling violations, 7m for intentionally attempting to trick Google’s detection systems and 5m payday loan ads.

Elsewhere, as part of its clamp down, Google also suspended bad sites and accounts. Suspensions included 47,000 sites promoting content and products related to weigh-loss scams; 15,000 sites for unwanted software, disabling 900,000 ads containing malware in the process; 6,000 sites and 6,000 accounts for attempting to advertise counterfeit goods; and more than 1,300 accounts for tabloid cloaking.