Google is expanding its sensitive ad category options, allowing users to limit the number of ads they see about dating, pregnancy, parenting, and weight loss, and making those settings apply to more places. The feature was introduced as a way to let users see fewer ads on YouTube about potentially addictive gambling or alcohol products, but now it appears Google is expanding it to cover other potentially uncomfortable or traumatic topics.
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Your settings will now apply across Google's Display Network, not just YouTube ads, according to Elijah Lawal, a company spokesman. Google says the network is "a group of more than 2 million websites, videos and apps" that advertisers can target users to.
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To access the feature, go to the Ad Settings page and scroll down to “Sensitive ad categories on YouTube.” From there, you can click the “See Fewer” button next to any categories you prefer. The page will warn you that you’ll still see the same number of ads overall and ask you to confirm your choice. You can also “Allow” categories that you’ve previously restricted.
Google’s support page for sensitive ad categories notes that while it should show fewer ads for products in any category you’ve chosen to restrict, the topics may still appear in other ads. It gives the example of “an airline ad that shows someone drinking a glass of champagne.” The company also notes that it “doesn’t allow advertisers to personalize ads based on certain topics, like alcohol and gambling, but you may see ads about these things based on related interests,” such as beer producers targeting sports fans.
While gambling and drinking probably don't make many appearances in general-purpose ads, some of the recently added categories would be harder to avoid. A gum ad might feature people in a relationship, or an ad for razors might highlight the idea of fatherhood. Google's support page suggests that you could still see these types of ads, even if you've asked to limit — you just shouldn't get ads for, say, a dating app or baby diapers.
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Even with these limitations, it’s good to see that Google is working to give people “more control over their advertising experience,” as group product manager for ad privacy Karin Hennessy put it in an emailed statement to The Verge. It’s the kind of improvement that’s good for Google and its users, so you can choose to see fewer ads that might make you uncomfortable, and advertisers can target a more receptive audience.
Hennessy said Google "will continue to listen to user feedback and consider which categories to expand this feature to in the future.".
In response to accusations of discriminatory ads, Meta this year removed the ability for advertisers to target users based on sensitive topics, such as health, race or ethnicity, political beliefs, religion or sexual orientation. Twitter has also banned political and climate change denial ads from its platform. Both Facebook and Instagram block ads for weight loss products and cosmetic procedures that target minors. Instagram users can set their ad subject preferences to see fewer ads from certain categories.
Source of information: theverge.com
