Skip to main content

Google's New Ad Settings Make It Easier to Personalise and Turn Off Targeted Ads




  • Google has updated Ad Settings feature
  • It now offers easy ways to limit personalised ads
  • The company has also expanded its 'Why this ad?' feature


Google has updated its Ad Settings feature to make it easier to control tailored ads. Apart from being able to turn off all Ad Personalization, users have also provided an option to turn off any of the factors that they don't want to be used to tailor ads. Additionally, the search giant is expanding its 'Why this ad?' feature to all the Google services as well as partner websites and apps that show Google Ads. This means you'll now be able to understand why any specific ad is showing to you when you are on YouTube, Google Play, Gmail, Maps, or Google Search.
Back in 2009, Google launched the Ad Settings feature to offer netizens with a list of ad controls. The original model didn't offer plenty of factors that Google use internally to serve targeted ads. But as privacy is becoming a hot topic in the fast-growing world of the Web, the Mountain View, California-based company has now upgraded the experience on its Ad Settings by showing all the different factors that determine how ads are tailored to you under one, single roof. This means you can now see a list of topics, including Travel, Restaurants, Finance, and Beauty & Fitness among others, based on which you are seeing ads. In addition to seeing the topics, you can also remove them with a single tap.

Also, apart from the preset topics, there are different factors that Google uses to serve you targeted ads. These are such as estimations of your interests based on your activity while you're signed in, the information you add to your Google Account, and your behavioural information that company receives from advertisers. All these factors can now be disabled by going to the Personal info and privacy section of your account's Ad Settings."
Turning off a factor means you'll no longer receive tailored ads related to it across our services, and on websites and apps that partner with us to show ads, as long as you're signed in to your Google Account," Google Product Manager Philippe de Lurand Pierre-Paul said in a blog post.
If you turn off all Ad Personalization, Google says you'll still see ads but that they may be less useful to you; users will also no longer be able to turn off ads from specific advertisers, and finally, any advertisers or interests users have turned off won't be saved. Google will still show you ads based on general factors such as the subject of what you're looking at or the time of the day, or any other factor that is still turned on in the Ad Settings.
In addition to the updated Ad Settings, Google has expanded the 'Why this ad?' feature that will now available across all Google services, including YouTube, Google Play, Gmail, Maps, and Search, along with most of Google's partner websites and apps that display Google Ads. The feature, which was originally launched in 2011, mainly provide insight into why a certain ad is showing up on the screen. It also gives quick access to the Ad Settings feature.

"The new Ad Settings and updates to Why this ad? provide you with more transparency and control over your Google ad experience than ever before. With these improvements, you can browse the web confidently knowing that you have the information and control to make Google work better for you," the Google executive concluded.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Here’s how Elon Musk might use rocket thrusters on the new Tesla Roadster

Last week, SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced bold plans to combine the technologies of his two biggest companies by placing rocket thrusters on future specialized models of Tesla’s Roadster. The thrusters won’t actually combust, according to Musk; instead, they will expel highly pressurized cold air, giving the Tesla an extra boost in acceleration. It’s a move the might technically work, but it also baffles industry experts and engineers: the thrusters won’t be very efficient and probably won’t be street legal. Specifically, Musk is talking about incorporating a key piece of hardware from SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket — a tank known as a composite overwrapped pressure vessel, or a COPV. These bottles are made out of a thin metal liner that’s wrapped in carbon fibers, and they’re a great way to store a lot of pressurized air in a very small space. They’re also fairly lightweight, which is why many rocket manufacturers like using them to help pressurize their rockets. “IS...

Pinterest files for IPO, but avoids calling itself a social network

The latest Silicon Valley company to  file for an initial public offering is Pinterest , the San Francisco-based social network and image board that in recent years has built a large advertising and commerce business from its growing user base. The company, although it is still not profitable, says it earned more than $750 million in revenue last year, and it’s cut its losses from nearly $200 million in 2016 down to just under $75 million annually. Pinterest says it was in fact profitable in the fourth quarter of 2018, but not profitable enough to get out of the red for the full calendar year. The company, headed up by original co-founder and CEO Ben Silbermann, plans to go public on the New York Stock Exchange. It joins  ride-hailing giants Uber and Lyft ,  on-demand delivery company Postmates ,  workplace communications platform Slack , and  hotel and short-term home rental service Airbnb  as one of the handful of Silicon Valley companies said to...

Sources claim Xiaomi won't unveil the Mi 7 at MWC 2018

As we inch towards MWC 2018, tensions within the industry are mounting, as per usual. With rumors flying left and right, it's incredibly hard to paint a good picture of company inner-working and relations, especially around this time of year. However, there has been an undeniable serge in scheduling and timing reports and issues as of late and Xiaomi is now part of that list as well. Unlike  last year , Xiaomi will definitely be present at the Barcelona venue this time around. However, a high-ranking company employee has allegedly stated in anonymity that there will be no major announcements involved. That means no Mi 7 or Mi Max 3, for example. However, another fresh insider tip, one based on supplier chain info, claims that the company is preparing to unwrap an updated Mi Mix 2S model, potentially prior to MWC. Other sources say that the new proprietary  Surge S2 chipset  will be featured at the show. It is pretty clear that Xiaomi is cooki...