Google now allows you to permanently block ads about weight loss, dating, and pregnancy

Widely controlled on less controlled channels, such as email, insistent weight loss ads, dating services, and wonder products that help you get pregnant, or raising a child, can now be blocked from all online advertising platforms. Google.

Treated as potentially sensitive topics for users, ads on the above topics may be completely blocked by adjusting the newly added settings in the Google Mobile app menu.

The way in which modern technology allows users to be profiled and then bombarded with advertisements on topics of interest can ruin the target person, financially, or through psychological trauma. For example, if you only show advertisements about gambling addicts to a gambling addict, the chances that they will “cure” their addiction before they reach financial ruin tend to zero. Likewise, the insistent display of weight loss advertisements to people who have major weight problems and are unable to lose weight can be the basis for mental trauma by accentuating their own fears and doubts. And the examples can go on and on, putting companies that offer advertising services (including Google) in a very bad light, as exploiters of the weaknesses and frustrations felt by people who find themselves in such situations.

In anticipation of possible legal consequences, Google has decided to add settings in a convenient location that can block ads that touch sensitive topics. The only condition is that users know about these settings and act on their own initiative to protect their emotional integrity. In any case, Google apologizes for this liability and any legal action.

Restrictions currently apply only to YouTube, Gmail, and other sites where Google displays ads. To check these settings, just visit the “Ad Settings” menu of your Google Account, or “Data & Privacy”, to the “Sensitive ad categories on YouTube” menu. Although it explicitly refers to the YouTube service, checking the “See Fewer” option also affects ads displayed on other platforms managed by Google.

According to Karin Hennessy, product manager for ad privacy at Google: “People want more control over their advertising experience, including blocking ads or categories they prefer not to see. We will continue to listen to user feedback and study what categories to extend. this feature in the future. “