Google Ads Engineering Assurance: Migrating a Manual Identity Verification System to a Scalable, Signal-Based Platform

Verifying customer PII documents at scale presents a significant operational challenge for regulatory compliance (KYC) and business trust, such as in advertising transparency. Our legacy Identity Verification Tool (IDV) was an inefficient bottleneck. When automation failed, IDV sent entire documents to human reviewers for a full, redundant re-review, capturing only a binary pass/fail decision. This process was slow, costly, and produced low-granularity data unsuitable for reuse or advanced data analytics.

We implemented the Identity Assurance Review Tool (IART), a new platform designed using core information engineering principles. The project involved a strategic redesign of the system architecture and data processes , coupled with a new, task-focused user interface based on usability concepts.

The key innovation is a shift from holistic review to "signal-based" review. When automation cannot resolve specific signals (e.g., "Is document a screenshot?"), IART routes only those 2-3 unresolved questions to a reviewer. This targeted workflow generates granular data on why a document passed or failed, enabling the confident reuse of findings across multiple products. This new architecture also enforces stricter security controls, limiting reviewer access to assigned-only data.

The IART system now operates 40% faster, transforming the verification process from a bottleneck into a scalable service. This allows for more customers to be verified with the same resources, saving millions in annual operational costs and enhancing platform-wide trust.

Kate Dubell is a Global Process Manager within Payments Compliance Operations, where she specializes in driving large-scale operational efficiency and identity verification (IDV) strategy. During her tenure at Google, Kate has a proven track record of scaling global operations, including managing verification for over 10 million ads customers. She successfully designed and launched a new review tool that cut production time in half. Her expertise in automation and lean methodologies consistently delivers measurable results.

Prior to her current role, Kate served as a Senior Operations Strategy Analyst at Discover Financial Services, where she led cross-functional projects that saved an estimated $14 million over five years. She holds a B.S. in Industrial & Systems Engineering from The Ohio State University and is a Black Belt trained in Lean Six Sigma. 

Where Kate makes an impact

Kate bridges the gap between technical complexity and operational execution with a "people-first" mindset. Known for her signature vision—to be the teammate you can complain to so that things actually change— she excels at building cross-functional partnerships that translate data-driven insights into sustainable business value. In her personal time, Kate is a fitness instructor and enjoys rock climbing, yoga, and teaching HIIT.  Her and her husband also enjoy running with their vizsla, named Whiskey.