Source: https://pixabay.com/get/258164d1f7c867838e9d/1439482605/office-625892_1280.jpg?direct

If you’ve ever wondered what specifically goes into the ads that you see on Google, which led you to question if you can change things. Well, you can. With this recent addition of control on what ads users can see, it’s easier than ever for anyone to customize their Google experience. The last time Google made any significant changes to this system was two years ago, so this will change a lot for a numerous amount of people.

All centered around you

In case you weren’t already aware, Google completely customizes your experience with online ads through passively collecting data from your online use and placing it into files that tell it what you like. From these files Google uses an algorithm that ranks what you’re interested in and what advertisers have to offer. From there Google uses any of its seemingly unlimited channels to show you ads. Google doesn’t want people to have to wade through an experience that isn’t all their own, so they made a dashboard that is fully customizable for you, interest wise.

In addition to your interests, Google takes your demographic information and again, runs it through an algorithm. After that, they show ads to you that have been statistically proven to be appealing to people similar to you. Yes, that sounds like stereotyping, and yes, that probably makes you feel like nothing more than a number being processed through a machine by a giant conglomerate. But let’s face it, these algorithms get results.

If you hit that little green button marked “on” or “off” Google allows you to control whether or not you want advertisers to show targeted ads to you. This doesn’t mean they won’t continue collecting data on you, though. You may be interested in this option if you’re tired of seeing that same old ad you’ve seen a thousand time because you visited a website once and they seem to be following you everywhere.

Source: https://www.google.com/settings/u/0/ads/authenticated

So feel free to customize your experience with Google. Again, you may be feeling like nothing more than an equation computed by an algorithm right now, but that equation is all your own and you can make it whatever you want it to be. Change your demographic info, your interests, or just turn of the targeted ads all together; the world of ads is yours for the changing.

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