Finally, YouTube now allows you to Limit Ads that you Don’t like, and to be frank, I really like this new feature. Google ran a quiet update for its sensitive ads categories, and now it includes dating, Pregnancy/parenting, and weight-loss topics on top of alcohol and gambling.
What this means for users is that they would be able to limit the exposure that they get from YouTube ads based on the following topics. The purpose of these controls is to offer people the chance to keep them safe from possibly traumatic subjects.
YouTube Ads Control
If you are interested in these controls and you wish to turn them on, they can be found at the bottom of your Google account’s ad settings. You should find a “See Fewer” button next to the topic. Clicking them would enable the feature to filter out most of the ads. You still get to see them, just less often.
You are to note that the filter is in beta, and exclusive to YouTube videos and targeted ads from google the Google Ads program. This would not filter out Google search results. Google’s Ads Help Support page further clarifies how this filter functions. It would stop advertisers from showing you personalized ads, but it would not stop anything tangentially related.
Sensitive Topics
Let’s say, you might see an ad for a restaurant chain where it shows people drinking beer or a couple on a date. While that ad shows “sensitive topics”, they happen to not be the main focus, so you would see them.
When it comes to why these topics, Karin Hennessy, Google’s Group product manager for privacy and trust, gave information and reason whey in a Washington post.
Hennessy stated these five categories were selected due to user surveys that were carried out by the company. Alcohol and gambling came out as the major two and “the very next four categories include pregnancy, parenting, dating and weight loss.”
Back in late 2020, alcohol and gambling filters were introduced back in late 2020 and have remained in beta since then. Google has expressed interest when it comes to improving these controls. However, it is yet to be known if these filters would ever make their way to search results.
Users Now Decide
Well, this still holds the question as to why Google took the decision to do this in the first place considering its penchant for pushing targeted ads in the past. Well, Google was aware of this criticism and even started its 2020 Ad settings post talking about the transparency and control of users.
