Timely and unexpected Internet advertising can be more than just a small hassle. Pop-up promotions for weight loss programs have hit particularly hard on people with body image problems, as well as ads on betting sites for people trying to overcome their gambling addiction. Attempts to lure lonely people into dating apps and provide pregnancy and childcare tips to couples with fertility problems can also turn harmless sales into a very hurtful moment.
The news is as follows: With these scenarios in mind, Google recently announced a new user control aimed at limiting the ads displayed when using Google-owned services such as YouTube and Gmail. Google previously offered ad-restriction options for gambling and alcohol ads on its YouTube platform, but search giants allow users to limit ads on topics such as pregnancy and childcare, weight loss and dating, and alcohol and gambling. Added an option to do.
“People want more control over their advertising experience, such as blocking ads and categories they don’t want to see,” Karin Hennessy, Group Product Manager for Advertising Privacy at Google, said in a TechCrunch statement. “Providing transparency and control has always been a priority for us, so we continue to offer the option of expanding our tools to reduce advertising for pregnancy, childcare, dating and weight loss. We will listen to your feedback and consider the categories that extend this functionality. “
Important reason: According to the Washington Post, Google, which makes money by displaying ads based on search history and other online behavior, has been accused of targeting people who do not want to display family or body-related ads. I am. Facebook has settings that filter ads on specific delicate topics, but until now Google users have been largely unreliable. In December 2020, Google allowed Americans to opt out of YouTube ads featuring alcohol and gambling. People around the world can now opt out of alcohol and gambling ads, as well as ads in newly announced categories throughout Google’s ecosystem.
Better but not perfect: The control does not affect the ads that appear in your search. Also, according to The Washington Post, we do not limit the data that Google collects from users. Some types of targeted advertising violate Google’s policies anyway. For example, the company states that its advertising policy allows pharmaceutical companies to advertise in the United States, but prohibits advertisers from targeting people based on their health, including mental health. I am.
How to set your own controls: Users can access the new ad display controls from the Google Accounts dashboard in their ad settings. Scroll down to see the Delicate Ad Categories section. This section contains five topics such as alcohol, dating, gambling, pregnancy / childcare, and weight loss.
For each Android Headlines, next to a topic that users don’t want to see[表示数を減らす]You need to click the button. Google will send you an email notifying you that there are fewer ads on your topic. However, there is a caveat here. According to Google, users may continue to see ads that belong to some of the selected categories while searching for related content. It’s also important to remember that these changes only take effect when the user signs on to their Google account.
