Google Will Let You Limit Ads About Weight Loss, Dating, More

pcmag.com:

In theory, targeted ads show us content that's relevant to our interests, but algorithms don't know everything. These ads can sting when they hit on a sensitive subject—a dating app right after a breakup, for example—so Google is expanding the number of ad categories users can avoid.

Since December 2020, people have been able to tweak Ad Settings to request that Google show them fewer ads about gambling or alcohol on YouTube. As The Verge reports, those settings have now expanded to include dating, pregnancy, parenting, and weight loss.

To tweak your own settings, navigate to Google's Ad Settings page, click Advanced, and scroll down to Sensitive ad categories on YouTube. (Google tells The Verge these settings will apply across Google's ad network, not just YouTube, though.)

Click "See fewer" next to your preferred category. A pop-up will appears that says: "You should see fewer ads for this category when you are signed in to your Google Account on YouTube. This won't change the total number of ads you see." Click Continue to agree. If you change your mind later, return to this page and click Allow next to the same category.

Google can't guarantee that you'll never see this content; "We’ll do our best to limit ads that feature them when you are signed in to your Google Account on YouTube," it says. But "you may still see ads that refer to these categories when searching for or viewing related content."

Facebook recently introduced similar restrictions. As of Jan. 19, Meta no longer allows companies to include religion or politics, among other sensitive issues, in the filters they use to focus their ads.

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