Advertising on the web is everywhere. If users are already aware of it, they do not necessarily know how it works. This is why Google, in a process of transparency, has developed a new Chrome extension designed to help users understand how advertisements follow their movements on the Internet and therefore, know what they like and whatnot.
The Ad Transparency Spotlight extension lets you know how many ads are loaded on a page you’re viewing, who the authors of those ads are, and what kind of information they’re using to display those specific ads: demographics, remarketing, interests, location, etc.
There are also view content delivery networks, as well as for analytics providers. Thus, users will be able to consult the confidentiality policy of each company, in particular how it collects and stores user data.
For greater control of personal data, “Our new Ads Transparency Spotlight (Alpha) extension for Chrome is part of our ongoing initiative to give users more visibility over the data used to personalize ads and more control over that data,” Google said in a statement.
At this time, the extension is still in the beta phase and only works for ads served by Google. Ultimately, Google hopes the industry as a whole will apply its “ad disclosure scheme” and be more transparent about how it works.
The objective of Ad Transparency Spotlight extension is not to limit the number of advertisements displayed on websites. The goal is to make users aware of the data that is used to serve these ads to them. Then, it is up to them to decide whether it suits them or not and to take the appropriate measures.
Summary Of Ad Transparency Spotlight Extension Features:
- View detailed information about the ads on a web page
- View a list of ad providers responsible for delivering ads to the page
- View all companies and services that have a presence on the page (for example, content delivery networks or analytics providers), regardless of who has implemented the schema.
- View the reasons why ads are shown on a page
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