Google Gives Users More Control Over $67B Ad Arm; Still Sleazy, But Not As Much

Google is in the business of selling ads to corporations who want to gain access to its billions of users, and they have been doing this by using the information of users whenever they interact with the search engine. This has prompted outcries because of the perceived invasion of privacy of its users. In what seems to be a way to mollify disgruntled parties while still keeping their corporate customers happy, Google is now allowing users to customize the kinds of ads they will see.

In 2015, Google was able to rake in a whopping $67.39 billion in ad revenues, according to Statista. This made ads the biggest source of profit for the company, and it is not about to do anything to jeopardize that arrangement. Still, privacy watchdogs have been loud about their protests regarding Google’s tendency to disregard users over money, which the company could not ignore.

As Recode reports it, the new features that Google is rolling out are meant to provide corporations with more specific targets for ads that they are going to run.  Not only does this mean an easier way to customize ads to certain customers, it could also be potentially profitable for the search engine company.

However, the feature comes with the condition that the users will have control over which ads they see, which then means that some ads won’t be shown. With the proliferation of ad blockers that prevent all ads from bothering users completely, this is perhaps a way for Google to get ahead of profit loss.

On the other hand, Engadget notes that opting into the feature means users will give google permission to access even more of their private information. Fortunately, the choice to do so is completely up to the user, so they can refuse any time they want.