Google Announces 'My Ad Center' For Ad Customization: Do Users Benefit?

Google has rolled out "My Ad Center" to all its users. It is a unified, and supposedly simplified, control hub for users to finetune the types of ads they see by customizing their preferences. The search giant may have launched the tool to show users it is serious about privacy. Google could be reacting to Apple, the company that forced everyone to focus on privacy, but mainly as a means to hurt ad revenue-driven big tech competitors.

Google rolls out "My Ad Center" For Ad Customization

Google assures this new tool gives "direct control" over the ads and the ways Google displays them. The service is supposed to offer users better control over the methods Google uses user data to personalize the ads they see.

Google places ads not just on Google Search, YouTube, and Discover, but also across millions of websites. These ads sometimes appear relevant and at other times, random.

The My Ad Center allows users to select from a variety of topics that interest them. If users go through the process of managing their preferences, ads they see across Google's platforms could become more relevant to them.

Users with a Google account can access My Ad Center by tapping on the three-dot menu in ads. These settings should appear within ads seen on Google Search, YouTube, and Discover, but also within ads seen on other platforms, Google works with.

Is Google Advocating The Right To Privacy?

Apple always promotes user privacy. The company claims it respects its users and zealously protects their data. In reality, the "App Tracking Transparency" has seriously hurt the ad revenue of its big tech competitors.

Google's My Ad Center could be an indirect response to Apple and an attempt at assuring users that their data is used for showing relevant ads. The hub allows users to define their interests clearly, and Google claims it will use the data primarily to serve ads based on these customizations.

Using the ad control hub, users can also choose to see fewer ads on specific sensitive topics. Users can also choose to block sensitive ads entirely. Previously, this setting was only available on a few select Google platforms such as YouTube.