Google does a lot to combat bad ads and bad sites online. In 2016, we took down 1.7 billion ads that violated our advertising policies, more than double the number of bad ads in 2015.
Our publisher partners use our AdSense platform to make money by running ads on their sites and content. We have strict policies in place to keep Google's platforms and networks a safe environment for our advertisers, users, and publishers. When a publisher violates our policies, we can stop showing ads on their site or even terminate their account.
We've had long-standing policies prohibiting AdSense publishers from running ads on sites that help people deceive others. In November, we expanded on these policies, introducing a new AdSense policy directed at misrepresentative content. This policy helps us to take action against website owners who misrepresent who they are and deceive people with their content.
From November to December 2016 we reviewed 550 sites that were suspected of misrepresenting content, including cases of impersonating news organizations. We took action against both misrepresentation and other offences, and nearly 200 publishers were kicked off our network permanently.
In conclusion, this is a challenging issue. We don't have all the answers, which is why we host events such as the News Lab Summit and Newsgeist. Both are important forums that bring together people across the news industry with technologists to discuss issues like these and to generate new ideas.
We thank you again for the opportunity to contribute to this important discussion. We look forward to answering your questions today and continuing this important dialogue with the committee and members beyond today's meeting.