11 March 2009 | Author: Yasmin Sulaiman
Google might be the internet world's most successful advertising platform, but the way it collects and handles user behaviour has long been a target of criticism from both privacy campaigners and users. However, today's announcement that the search engine is launching "interest-based ads" looks likely to partially quell this aggression, as well as throw up all kinds of new frontiers for search marketers globally.
Essentially, Google's existing advertising model offers users targeted ads based on what they are searching for at a particular moment. For instance, if you're watching a video on how to bake a cake on YouTube, you're likely going to see ads that are related to cakes and baking. Similarly, if you're on a sports website that uses AdSense, you're probably going to be served with ads related to the sport you're investigating at that moment in time.
Interest-based ads, however, change this dynamic. By managing your main interests through Google's new Ads Preferences Manager tool, you'll be able to view, delete or add interest categories associated with your browser. So if you cite "animals" as among your main interests, you'll be able to view animal-related ads even when you're on a website that's wholly unrelated to animals.
This move is sure to please advertisers, who are always looking for new and improved ways to reach their target audience. Better still, the interest-based beta test relates to both text ads and display advertising - a realm in which Google is a relative newcomer compared to Yahoo! The 'interests' users can manage range across 20 categories, with around 600 subcategories. However, more sensitive issues - like religion, sexual orientation and some health concerns - will be avoided. What's more, cookies that are used to track these interests won't be related to search history or information from other Google services, like Gmail.
In a post on Google's official blog this morning, Susan Wojcicki - the company's vice president of product management - said: "Advertising is the lifeblood of the digital economy: it helps support the content and services we all enjoy for free online today, including much of our news, search, email, video and social networks. That's why Google has worked hard to create technology that makes the advertising on our own sites, and those of our partners as relevant as possible."
Anticipating questions about user privacy, Google identifies three features of interest-based advertising that it feels are the most important.
While some privacy advocates have praised Google's moves to put ad control in the hands of the people who see them, others warn that the search engine isn't doing enough to educate users on how to opt out of the interest-based scheme.
Nonetheless, letting people control and choose which ad categories they're served with is something that looks likely to appeal to a range of users as well as advertisers and again highlights Google's emphasis on personalised search. Ultimately, it's likely that until the innovative new ad format rolls out to a greater selection of AdSense partners, its true merits - and demerits - won't be exposed.
Google to offer "interest-based" ads
Google might be the internet world's most successful advertising platform, but the way it collects and handles user behaviour has long been a target of criticism from both privacy campaigners and users. However, today's announcement that the search engine is launching "interest-based ads" looks likely to partially quell this aggression, as well as throw up all kinds of new frontiers for search marketers globally.Essentially, Google's existing advertising model offers users targeted ads based on what they are searching for at a particular moment. For instance, if you're watching a video on how to bake a cake on YouTube, you're likely going to see ads that are related to cakes and baking. Similarly, if you're on a sports website that uses AdSense, you're probably going to be served with ads related to the sport you're investigating at that moment in time.
Interest-based ads, however, change this dynamic. By managing your main interests through Google's new Ads Preferences Manager tool, you'll be able to view, delete or add interest categories associated with your browser. So if you cite "animals" as among your main interests, you'll be able to view animal-related ads even when you're on a website that's wholly unrelated to animals.
This move is sure to please advertisers, who are always looking for new and improved ways to reach their target audience. Better still, the interest-based beta test relates to both text ads and display advertising - a realm in which Google is a relative newcomer compared to Yahoo! The 'interests' users can manage range across 20 categories, with around 600 subcategories. However, more sensitive issues - like religion, sexual orientation and some health concerns - will be avoided. What's more, cookies that are used to track these interests won't be related to search history or information from other Google services, like Gmail.
In a post on Google's official blog this morning, Susan Wojcicki - the company's vice president of product management - said: "Advertising is the lifeblood of the digital economy: it helps support the content and services we all enjoy for free online today, including much of our news, search, email, video and social networks. That's why Google has worked hard to create technology that makes the advertising on our own sites, and those of our partners as relevant as possible."
Anticipating questions about user privacy, Google identifies three features of interest-based advertising that it feels are the most important.
- Transparency: the search engine is expanding the information it offers on its ad formats and publishers, as well as offering information on how ads are served and the information it uses in order to do so.
- Choice: its new Ads Preferences Manager not only lets users view their interest categories collated by Google, but also lets them edit and delete this list, in order to make ads as personal as possible.
- Control: interest-based advertising isn't obligatory, it's optional. So users can opt out of the AdSense partner network advertising cookie and even download a browser plug-in that maintains this choice.
While some privacy advocates have praised Google's moves to put ad control in the hands of the people who see them, others warn that the search engine isn't doing enough to educate users on how to opt out of the interest-based scheme.
Nonetheless, letting people control and choose which ad categories they're served with is something that looks likely to appeal to a range of users as well as advertisers and again highlights Google's emphasis on personalised search. Ultimately, it's likely that until the innovative new ad format rolls out to a greater selection of AdSense partners, its true merits - and demerits - won't be exposed.
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