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THey have a payment method as well which is definitely identity verification. Don't expect this to filter everyone hiding behind fronts and shell orgs, but it's a step towards that.

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The whole point is that a payment is not and identity verification

No, the point is that they may already be advising someone on how to manage a brand for a business, a business that potentially they didn't really know if that someone is actually a representative of the brand? They may be granting access to AdWords accounts to be managed by third parties, and they don't know if those third parties are who they say they are, or actually a representative of the brand they are managing? Their job is just to rake in payments from people they don't actually know? Again, did they not already have methods in place to establish some level of trust that the person on the other end is who they say they are?

Google already had a "Verify your local business" option, I wonder if this data was integrated into AdWords accounts as well. https://support.google.com/business/answer/7107242?hl=en It seems like this data should already be on file and verified if you are business advertising with AdWords.

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