A Scammer Turned My Face Into a Google Ad
Here’s what happened
For many years, Google Adsense has provided a platform for anyone to purchase ad space for their business or service. These ads can live almost anywhere on the internet, from a personal blog to a YouTube video. For the most part, it is an efficient system for creators to monetize their work as well as businesses to market themselves. However, with any automated system at this great size, some weird things can fall through the cracks.
One day when I was scrolling on YouTube, I noticed myself as an advertisement for what looked like an online survey website.
I definitely did not purchase this ad or remember giving permission for anyone to use my image for it. I realized that there isn’t a copyright approval process for creating an ad — anyone could rip someone’s photo from anywhere online and make it an ad.
Traditionally, if a company wants the rights to your name and likeness to use as an advertisement they would have a contract in place and pay for those rights. Not to mention I had created the entire ad, meaning I was the “model,” photographer, and photo editor that they would normally have to…
