Google Discloses Plans To Block Targeted Ads For People Below 18 Years Old

Google has revealed that it will soon block advertisements targeting the age, gender, and interests of users under the age of 18. 

A blog post by the tech giant says that this year, it’ll be focusing on bettering protection for vulnerable groups, in hopes of building a safer, more private future where users are in control of their information.

“We’ve already made progress on delivering a safer experience to kids and teens online by expanding safeguards to prevent age-sensitive ad categories from being shown to teens,” Google says. 

Going forward, Google will seek to make the web “private by default” by partnering with Privacy Sandbox, an initiative to align digital marketing with users’ growing concern for privacy and safety. 

In addition, the firm emphasizes that it doesn’t use content created or stored in Drive, Gmail, or Photos for advertising purposes.

Plus, advertisers on the site aren’t allowed to use sensitive interest groups, including health conditions, identity, and beliefs, or sexual interests to target specific users. 

To find out why a particular advertisement has appeared on your search, simply click the ‘About this Ad’ option to understand the rationale behind it, and which advertiser commissioned it.

Users will have the choice to mute particular advertisements or advertisers from appearing.

“We’ll continue to work on introducing exciting new ways to put you in control of your experiences with our products,” concludes the company.

[via Google, cover image via Proxima Studio / Shutterstock.com]