Alongside releasing the new My Activity service Google also wants to assure users that they never sell personally identifiable information. In their new look privacy website, Google, a company that derives the majority of their revenue from advertising, has taken the time to try and explain how their advertising systems work.
In short, advertisers choose the type of people they want to see their ads and Google does the matching, the actual advertiser never knows who you are. This makes sense, it is in Google’s best interest to be the only one who knows anything about you. Their strength as a platform would diminish if they allowed advertisers access to people’s information.
They have also launched a new site to help you personalise, or de-personalise, your advertising experience, It doesn’t seem to have a name so I’m calling it Project Ad
Open the new page and you’re greeted with the option to ‘Control your Google ads’. Based off what Google knows about you, they have selected a set of topics they think best fit your tastes. What I want to know is who is sneaking onto my machines and watching bodybuilding videos on Youtube! Cause it ain’t me.
You can deselect topics you don’t like, goodbye bodybuilding, and even search for other topics to add, hello Android, solar power, PC Hardware…. You can also update your basic demographics, age and gender, and toggle on or off if you want ads to be targeted based on these interests.
This could well be an attempt by Google to make ads less annoying to users. In a word where ad blockers are on the rise both content like Ausdroid, and the ad networks are beginning to feel the impact. If by making ads more relevant Google can keep more people from migrating to an ad blocker they may just hold back the tide. Unfortunately for us, until Google and other ad networks get rid of the most annoying forms of advertising, which we don’t use, they will still be fighting an uphill battle.
So if you want to customise the ads you see a little more that they already are, or if you’re just interested in your profile head on over and check it out.
Did you find any unusual interested in your Google ad profile? Let us know below.
