The feature will be available next year, but is not guaranteed to filter out all the ads
YouTube users will now be getting the option to choose whether they want to see advertisements related to alcohol and gambling, be it on YouTube, or other third-party websites.
We have had the feature to adjust personalised ads, which are usually based on a user’s browsing history, through Google’s Ad Settings function. But these chances are quite rare. The ads available online are usually “contextual,” meaning they are linked to the content we are watching on YouTube or other websites that use Google Ads to sell space to advertisers.
Why restricting such ads are important
The contextual ads have been getting out of hand recently, with ads for online casinos appearing next to news articles about gambling addiction.
The feature will be available in the US this year and will be implemented in the UK and the rest of the world from early next year. The ads can be easily avoided with the feature, and the setting will be added to Ad Settings. But it’s important to note that the feature will not guarantee the 100% removal of gambling and alcohol ads, but Google is confident in being able to remove a large portion of such ads.
This new change has been discussed with the alcoholic drinks industry. Henry Ashworth, the chief executive of the industry-led International Alliance for Responsible Drinking stated that their members are determined to provide greater control over seeing alcohol-related marketing online. They also hope to start a bigger movement from this.
Google added that users in countries where such ads have already been prohibited will not be seeing any changes.
(Cover: Google)