Big Advertising Changes from Google

Following Facebook’s lead, Google has announced that they are now giving users greater control over the advertising they are shown. Google users have long been able to adjust their ad settings to let Google know what topics do and don’t interest them. Advertisers used this information, along with gender and age data, to find pre-qualified new customers. Google users have also been able to turn ad personalization off entirely, to ensure no business using the Google Display Network can serve ads based on habits and demographics.

What has changed is that Google has added an extra section to ad settings for “Your Reminder Ads.” This section will show you a list of entities that are currently “following” you with remarketing, or as Google calls them, “reminder” ads. Muting an ad will remove it from your screen for 90 days. After 90 days, you’ll be eligible to be advertised to again.

If you want to see the ads you’ve muted, you can find them in the “Muted Reminder Ads” section. The “Mute This Ad” function will remove the ad across devices and will eventually be available in Google’s Display Network, You Tube, Search, and Gmail. Despite these changes, all is not lost! Advertisers can strive to avoid the dreaded 90-day mute by creating high-quality, highly relevant ads. Also consider capping the frequency of retargeting ads, so your brand doesn’t gain a reputation for being a royal nuisance. Lastly, if someone already purchased your product, don’t send them retargeting ads.

Note that there are still hundreds of other ad networks out there who can use whatever they know about you to selectively advertise to you.