Google is taking steps to become a safer place for people’s feelings after it announced it will now give users the option to opt-out of seeing ads relating to topics such as pregnancy, dating, and weight loss.
Google, the company behind what many consider the world’s best-known search engine, profits from displaying ads to users that are crafted based on their recent searches and online activity, according to a report.
This method has recently been criticized for showering users with targeted personal life- and body-related advertisements that may be upsetting, the report noted.
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In 2020, Google began allowing users in the United States to stop viewing YouTube ads relating to alcohol or gambling, according to the report.
Now, the Big Tech company is expanding that option across its advertising ecosystem, the company announced.
“We conduct user surveys and try to understand what kinds of categories they are interested in us adding,” Karin Hennessy, Google’s group product manager for ads privacy, said.
“What came through at the very top was alcohol and gambling, so we provided that. The very next four categories were parenting, pregnancy, dating, and weight loss. It’s all based on what we perceive as sensitive categories, but also very much on what we’re hearing from users.”
Google is open to adding more categories in the future, but it needs time to “improve the back-end technology,” Hennessy said.
The new controls will not be a 100% guarantee against upsetting ads, as some may slip through the cracks, but Hennessy said the controls will help users see “fewer” ads that they would rather not be subjected to, the report noted.
Executive Director of the Center for Digital Democracy Jeffrey Chester called the move by Google cynical, adding that people should have to opt-in to see those ads, rather than opt-out to avoid them.
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“This is about protecting Google’s position in politics and in Washington and deceptively getting people to volunteer more information about themselves so that Google can target them even more aggressively on products and services they’re likely more interested in,” according to Chester.
