Google recently announced a new ad personalization feature called My Ad Center. But what is it? And what are the benefits?
With online privacy being a huge issue in recent years and the universal rejection of third-party cookies due to be complete by 2024, the global advertising industry is going through a period of unprecedented uncertainty.
The latest development has come from Google, whose plans to launch a new feature could bring significant changes to how digital advertising is served.
My Ad Center, which was unveiled at last month’s Google I/O 2022 event, is set to expand on existing ad privacy settings, making it easier for users to personalize the advertising they see.
By placing the control firmly in the hands of the user, My Ad Center has the potential to help solve one of adland’s biggest problems: transparency.
Below, we explore this new offering from the tech giant, discussing how it works, what it offers, and the potential impact it could have on digital advertising.
What is My Ad Center?
My Ad Center is a new tool from Google that gives users greater control over what digital advertising they are served and what data is used to target them across selected Google services.
Upon launch, this ad personalization tool will apply to Google Search, YouTube, and Google Discover. The possibility of future expansion across Google Display Network, Gmail, and search partners has not been mentioned, but equally has not been ruled out.
How does My Ad Center Work?
My Ad Center features an easy-to-navigate, visually led user interface that provides an accessible way for users to choose what ads are served to them.
It works in two ways: via a user’s Google account, or via the ad itself. Below we unpack both.
My Ad Center in-account settings
The My Ad Center feature is split into three sections: Home, Customize, and Privacy.
The Customize section contains the main ad personalization controls and is divided into three tabs: Topics, Brands, and Sensitive.
| Topics tab | Enables users to add or remove certain categories from their approved ad list. While the full list of topics has not been revealed, examples from Google include ‘Hybrid alternative vehicles’, ‘Food & groceries’, and ‘Beauty & personal care’. |
| Brands tab | Allows users to choose whether to receive ads from specific brands. So, if someone has chosen to receive ads in the ‘Food & groceries’ category, for example, they could refine this further by allowing ads from artisan brands, but not big supermarket chains. |
| Sensitive tab | Gives users the option to allow or limit ads that touch on sensitive topics, such as alcohol, gambling, or weight loss. |
In the Privacy section, it is possible to limit the personal information that is used when targeting ads. For example, a user could decide not to share their age or gender, but approve the use of their relationship status.
As you might expect, the Home section includes quick-edit carousels showing the most relevant Topics and Brands. However, the most notable feature is a feed showing the ads that were most recently served to the user. The feed reveals where and how many times each ad was seen and offers the option to block it from appearing again.
Finally, throughout all sections of My Ad Center, there is an ever-present switch in the top corner that allows users to quickly and easily disable personalized ads altogether.
It’s worth noting that while personalization preferences will only take effect across Google search, YouTube, and Google Discover, switching ad personalization off completely will be effective across all Google products.
My Ad Center in-ad settings
The second way in which My Ad Center works is via the ads themselves as they are served.
This feature will expand on the Why This Ad function and give users the option to like, block, or report an ad, along with the ability to add or remove it from their approved list.
An additional ‘Who paid for this ad’ tab will even show who actually bought the space – a previously unseen level of transparency that will make it harder for bad actors to operate unnoticed.
What are the benefits of My Ad Center?
My Ad Center not only stands to bring benefits to users and advertisers but to Google too.
What’s in it for users?
My Ad Center is beneficial for users because it allows them an unprecedented level of freedom to personalize the ads they see in real time, according to their current interests.
Specific categories have not yet been confirmed. But say you’ve been researching new shoes and subsequently bought a pair offline – My Ad Center could help you to opt out of future retargeting so you aren’t hounded by irrelevant ads for months on end.
Equally, if you’re just beginning to shop around for a new phone, you may want to specifically request technology ads, or even choose to only receive ads from your favorite cellphone brand.
However, the biggest advantage of My Ad Center is that it makes these controls much more easily accessible. The feature works with an easy-to-navigate, highly visual user interface that speaks to all users, regardless of technological know-how.
Furthermore, the ability to disable certain ads as they appear on screen strengthens this user-first convenience.
What’s in it for advertisers?
While behavioral targeting could be effective in helping advertisers reach very specific target audiences, it comes with certain risks.
For example, there have been cases of badly placed retargeted ads causing annoyance and even distress for users, which can damage a brand’s reputation.
Learn more: Brand protection: The problems and solutions around keeping your brand safe online
By putting the user in control, My Ad Center could go some way to preventing badly placed ads, as users will be able to block sensitive categories and reject ads as soon as they are served, rather than grow increasingly angry with repeated targeting.
Furthermore, if a user chooses to specifically receive advertising from a particular brand, that brand would effectively be responding to a direct ad request, which has the potential to make this new feature valuable.
The bottom line is that if My Ad Center is widely embraced, it could greatly improve ad relevance, leading to less wasted advertising dollars and higher user engagement.
What’s in it for Google?
Until now, third-party cookies have enabled digital advertising, which, in turn, has arguably driven the entire free internet.
With this in mind (plus the fact that 80% of Google’s parent company Alphabet’s profits come from advertising revenue), it is within both Google’s and the wider internet’s interests to create a viable privacy-focused alternative to cookies.
Google tried to offer a solution with the release of Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC), which has since been replaced by Topics, which itself is still in the testing stage.
However, the main problem with these alternatives is that, while there are measures in place to protect a user’s identity, the core issue remains: A user has very little idea where their information is being shared or any way to effectively control it.
This lack of transparency has plagued the digital advertising industry for many years, but My Ad Center appears to change this by putting the user in control over what they are shown.
If users consciously choose which advertising they do and don’t want to see, Google can use this data to match and even surpass the precise level of targeting that was possible with third-party cookies.
While the amount of available data is likely never to be as great, the fact the ads are being served to a receptive audience means the quality of the prospects is much higher.
Therefore, with widespread adoption, My Ad Center could play a significant role in helping to keep Google’s multi-billion-dollar ad business running.
When is My Ad Center available?
While there is no exact date set for the rollout of My Ad Center, Google has said that it will be available later this year (2022).
The problem with My Ad Center
By far the biggest challenge My Ad Center faces is adoption. Trying to persuade users to take the time to engage with it – in a space where things move and change quickly – could be a difficult battle to win.
To many users, My Ad Center could end up being an obstacle placed in the middle of their path of least resistance. If that is the case, it is likely they will simply remove it by switching off personalized ads altogether.
The other thing to remember is that these ad preferences will only filter advertising served by Google Topics, which, while more privacy-focused, still relies on online tracking and the use of personal data to target advertising.
With huge public interest in this topic seeing trust in the big-tech players tumble in recent years, the greater issue of privacy could make My Ad Center a non-starter.
The future of My Ad Center
By overcoming the issues it faces with adoption and establishing itself as a widely used feature in the online experience, My Ad Center could become a powerful tool.
If it extends across Google’s Display Network and search partners, and is embraced by the wider web, it has the potential to create an entirely new digital advertising ecosystem.
However, the enduring issue it faces is that it is still fed by Google Topics, which uses online tracking and shared data.
Integrating this new tool with contextual targeting, on the other hand, would provide relevant advertising that is brand-safe, privacy-friendly, and highly effective, creating a viable solution to the overall privacy issues faced by the industry.
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