[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"branding":3,"analytics":7,"article-how-one-developer-slipped-malware-ads-past-googles-filters":10,"sections":40},{"siteName":4,"siteTagline":5,"publisherName":4,"contactEmail":6},"The Revision","Tech news, decoded.","editor@therevision.news",{"gaMeasurementId":8,"adsenseClientId":9},"G-ZW2MV82GYR","ca-pub-8533917693782264",{"article":11},{"id":12,"slug":13,"title":14,"dek":15,"body_md":16,"tags_json":17,"published_at":18,"created_at":19,"updated_at":20,"status":21,"review_note":22,"review_notes":23,"image_url":22,"persona_id":22,"persona_name":22,"section":30,"tags":31,"sources":35,"feedback":39,"feedback_at":22,"cost_usd":39,"total_tokens":39},6190,"how-one-developer-slipped-malware-ads-past-googles-filters","How One Developer Slipped Malware Ads Past Google's Filters","A developer describes buying ads for malicious software on Google's platform, exposing how thin its ad vetting really is.","Buying an ad for malicious software on Google's platform turned out to be easier than it should be, and one developer wrote up exactly how he did it.\n\nThe account is a first-person, blow-by-blow post explaining how the author used Google's self-serve ad system, the same tool any legitimate business uses to buy search placement, to get a malicious ad live. Titled in translation 'I advertise malicious software on Google Ads' and published September 9, it isn't a statement from Google or a formal vulnerability disclosure. It's an independent writeup describing what one person did and how. The piece quickly picked up 64 points and 29 comments in online discussion, a sign of real interest in just how porous ad review can be.\n\nPaid links sitting above organic search results carry a trust that organic results don't always get, which is exactly why malicious ads are so effective at tricking people into clicking. If one person can document a path from buying an ad to a live malicious placement, review systems are still mostly catching bad actors after the fact, not screening them out before the ad ever runs. That gap hits hardest for less technical users, who have little reason to second-guess a paid link at the top of their results.\n\nMalvertising complaints aren't new, but every fresh writeup like this one is proof the fix is still incomplete.","[\"security\",\"malvertising\",\"google-ads\",\"advertising\"]","2026-09-09T11:43:21.000Z","2026-09-09T13:08:00.442Z","2026-09-09T13:08:12.350Z","published",null,[24],{"id":25,"reviewer":26,"round":27,"reason":28,"status":29},"editor-r1","editor",1,"The line 'Google says its systems catch this kind of abuse automatically' attributes a specific claim to Google with no citation in the source material — either cite where Google states this or rephrase as general industry context rather than a sourced quote from Google.","resolved","security",[30,32,33,34],"malvertising","google-ads","advertising",[36],{"name":37,"url":38},"Hacker News","https:\u002F\u002Fxlii.space\u002Feng\u002Fmalicious-software-on-google-ads\u002F",0,{"sections":41},[42,47,50,55,60,65,70,74,79,84,89,94,99,104],{"name":43,"slug":44,"count":45,"latest_published_at":46},"AI","ai",3480,"2026-09-11T04:00:00.000Z",{"name":48,"slug":30,"count":49,"latest_published_at":46},"Security",628,{"name":51,"slug":52,"count":53,"latest_published_at":54},"Policy","policy",336,"2026-09-11T00:56:21.000Z",{"name":56,"slug":57,"count":58,"latest_published_at":59},"Deals","deals",179,"2026-06-29T20:02:07.000Z",{"name":61,"slug":62,"count":63,"latest_published_at":64},"Hardware","hardware",153,"2026-09-09T15:12:32.000Z",{"name":66,"slug":67,"count":68,"latest_published_at":69},"Consumer Tech","consumer-tech",99,"2026-09-09T17:27:33.000Z",{"name":71,"slug":72,"count":73,"latest_published_at":46},"Science","science",98,{"name":75,"slug":76,"count":77,"latest_published_at":78},"Software","software",75,"2026-09-10T20:41:21.000Z",{"name":80,"slug":81,"count":82,"latest_published_at":83},"Dev Tools","dev-tools",69,"2026-08-18T04:00:00.000Z",{"name":85,"slug":86,"count":87,"latest_published_at":88},"Startups","startups",55,"2026-09-09T23:14:29.000Z",{"name":90,"slug":91,"count":92,"latest_published_at":93},"Gaming","gaming",43,"2026-09-10T12:18:06.000Z",{"name":95,"slug":96,"count":97,"latest_published_at":98},"General","general",41,"2026-09-08T01:57:23.000Z",{"name":100,"slug":101,"count":102,"latest_published_at":103},"Reviews","reviews",20,"2026-06-24T12:00:01.000Z",{"name":105,"slug":106,"count":107,"latest_published_at":108},"How-To","how-to",6,"2026-06-16T09:00:00.000Z"]