Last week, at Google’s I/O developer conference, the search giant announced a raft of new features for helping users of Google services to more easily control what information they see in search results and what data they personally share with the company itself.
One of the more eye-catching announcements was that of My Ad Centre – a digital control panel arriving later this year, when Google users will be able to specify more precisely what types of ads they would like to see in Google search, on YouTube and in Google Discover feeds.
How will My Ad Centre work?
It’s no secret – especially to SEO specialists – that Google takes account of data collected from users in an attempt to assess which ads should be shown to them. Furthermore, users have long had means of defining which forms of data Google is able to gather from them.
However, these privacy settings have long been tucked away in hard-to-find menus. Hence, Google is now making it easier for searchers to customise the kinds of ad content they are served up.
When My Ad Centre is all up and running, any Google user will be able to dive into it to choose specific brands and topics they want to see represented in on-screen ads. When – for example – the ‘Hybrid alternative vehicles’ category is selected, ads in this category are more likely to appear.
These particular settings will be in a ‘Customise’ section, as 9to5Google indicates. This part of the interface will also let you add sensitive topics – like ‘gambling’ and ‘pregnancy’ – to a blacklist for reining in how many ads covering these particular subjects actually pop up.
Next to the ‘Customise’ link will be a ‘Privacy’ one through which you can add, edit or disable demographic data – concerning, for example, your age, relationship status and education – Google is permitted to use for personalising your ad experience.
What implications could My Ad Centre have for advertisers?
It’s tempting to think “Not many” – but My Ad Centre controls won’t be limited to a single, multifaceted hub. There will also be some embedded directly into ads, with searchers able to quickly bring up a small menu where they can indicate whether they want ‘more or fewer ads like this’.
This menu will even include a ‘Who paid for this ad’ link. As Google has never previously allowed searchers to see who funded ads that are displayed, you might prefer to think again about advertising on Google if you have traditionally liked to do so ‘under the radar’.
Google has said that My Ad Centre will launch “towards the end of this year”. However, the feature is currently only set to cover Google search, YouTube and Google Discover, and won’t (at least yet) extend to ads that Google organises but are ultimately displayed only on non-Google sites.
Pay Per Click (PPC) ads facilitated by our team can already help you to reach customers who would be especially inclined to buy from you – and My Ad Centre’s arrival could further strengthen this benefit.
