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Posts Tagged ‘google ads’

Google Goes Stealth To Boost Ad Preferences

April 9th, 2009 by Erin Posted in Business, Small Business | No Comments »

Oh, this is good.  

Really good.  And so Google.

Google is currently testing an “interest-based” advertising research campaign on its YouTube site in an effort to make Google AdSense ads more relevant, and hopefully improve the connection between advertisers and users.

This is good for business, but a little delicate for us consumers.

Here’s why.

Google is placing cookies on user’s browsers to collect information about their interests whenever they visit sites that show AdSense contextual ads. It will then show ads targeted to those interests to the same person as they browse other sites that also serve AdSense ads – which is basically every commercial site out there.

Since Google already knows what each site or page is about, it will use this information to place users in one of 600 subcategories of interest. For example, If you visit tech blogs often, you are probably interested in technology. 

Through AdSense, Google can now target ads not only based on the context of the page you are on, but also based on the context of the pages you have visited in the past, even if you are on a site that is completely unrelated.

For instance, it might show you a real estate ad targeted to the towns you were searching on Realtor when you visit a tech blog.

Sounds crazy, doesn’t it?

But wait. It gets better.

Google will also let you target yourself.

Anyone can go to Google’s Ad Preferences Manager and see how Google is categorizing their interests. Now, you can add or remove interests and basically declare what kinds of ads you want to see. 

While this does feel a little like Big Brother, I do like the fact that I don’t have to see weightloss or “male enhancement” ads on every site I click on. 

Google insists that this method will give its users more privacy and control, but it has yet to thoroughly explain how.

Their main goal is to collect really valuable information about you and me that will help make ad targeting more effective.

Given the finicky nature of online advertising, I think this will be a real efficient way for businesses to reach people who are interested in their products and services.

Perhaps, this is what businesses need in this economy.

Or, perhaps, Google is positioning itself to take over the world.

 Tags: google ads, google adsense, interest advertising, online advertising