A new setting allows Google users to disable specific factors which the company uses to decide which personalized advertisements it shows. The search giant today announced on its blog that the setting comes available on the page for advertising settings, Google will also expand the coverage of its "Why this ad?" links that explain why users see specific ads.
The advertising settings page already makes it possible to disable all personalized ads. With the new setting Google hopes to provide users more control over the advertisements they see. When users disable specific factors, the search giant will no longer show personalized ads based on those factors. However, the same advertisements might still appear, but then based on general factors, like the time of the day or a search query.
Google will also expand the coverage of its "Why this ad?" feature. This feature shows notices on personalized ads and explains what kind of factors were taken in account to show the advertisement. Some ads of the search giant already showed the "Why this ad?" notices, but from today, they will be shown on all Google services that display Google ads, such as Youtube, Google Play, Gmail, Maps and Google search.
Also partners that show Google ads on their website or app will now show the "Why this ad?" notice. While the setting should provide users more control over Google's advertising, the search giant hopes that the "Why this ad?" feature will provide more transparency.
