Google takes down 93,000 fraudulent ads at command of UK government

Google received and processed a whopping 93,360 requests from the Office of Fair Trading for fraudulent ads to be removed from its AdWords platform in the second half of 2010.

The company also revealed that it had complied with more than 89 per cent of content removal requests and 72 per cent of user data requests received from the UK government in the latest edition of the firm's Transparency Report.

The report also showed that Google received 1,162 Google and YouTube user data requests from UK authorities between July and December 2010.

Google explained that the requests were made by law enforcement authorities as part of criminal investigations.

"The number of requests we receive for user account information as part of criminal investigations has increased year after year," the firm said.

"The increase isn't surprising, since each year we offer more products and services, and we have a larger number of users."

The 2011 transparency report marks the first time that Google has released the percentage of data requests with which it complied.

"Our goal is to provide our users with access to information and to protect their privacy," wrote Google Transparency engineering team member Matt Braithwaite in a blog post.

"Whenever we receive a request, we first check to make sure it meets the letter and spirit of the law before complying."

The report comes as the Federal Trade Commission has opened an investigation into the company's search practices.