Ad moderation and verification are crucial for classified platforms to prevent fraud, ensure brand safety, and comply with legal requirements. Most platforms use a combination of automated and manual systems.
The Moderation and Verification Process
- Ad Submission: A user submits an advertisement with content (text, images, potentially video).
- Automated Review: The ad is immediately scanned by algorithms for a range of issues:
- Prohibited Content: Detection of keywords or images related to dangerous products, hate speech, illegal activities, or adult content.
- Policy Violations: Checking for incorrect formatting, excessive capitalization, poor grammar, or unsubstantiated claims.
- Fraud Signals: Identification of patterns associated with scams or known fraudulent accounts.
- Copyright Infringement: Automated checks for copyrighted material or trademark violations.
- Manual Review (Human Moderation): Ads flagged by the automated system, or those in sensitive categories (like healthcare or finance), are reviewed by a human moderation team. This allows for a nuanced understanding of context that automation might miss.
- Advertiser Verification: Major platforms like Google require advertisers to complete an identity verification process by providing legal documentation to build transparency and trust.
- Approval or Rejection:
- Approval: If the ad meets all guidelines, it goes live.
- Rejection: If rejected, the advertiser is typically notified of the reason and given a chance to edit and resubmit the ad.