Google has launched a Chrome extension that can give you more info on how you are being targeted by advertisers. They are called – “Ads Transparency Spotlight”, it shows the number of ads loading on a page, the advertisers and ad tech companies present, and personal data that is being used to serve the ads.
“Our new Ads Transparency Spotlight (Alpha) extension for Chrome is part of our ongoing initiative to give people more visibility into the data used to personalize ads and more control over that data,” Google wrote when describing its Chrome web store.
The company notes that this early version only displays information about Google-served ads that have executed Google’s Ad Disclosure Schema, and not other third-party ads. The schema was created to help all of its advertisers reveal how they are making use of your personal information, according to Google’s Github page. Google hopes the rest of the industry will incorporate the Ad Disclosure Schema into their ads.
On top of showing ad information, the extension shows “all companies and services with a presence on the page” including content delivery networks or analytic providers. The extension is part of a push by Google to increase ad transparency and maybe prevent further privacy-oriented legislation like the EU’s GDPR laws. At the same Google is trying to replace the current wild west ad system by slowly removing third-party cookies and bringing in new ad-blowing tech.
The new extension is helpful, but Ghostery and others offer to give us more information about trackers, ads, and other info while giving you access to block them as well. Another choice is the Brave browser, which also displays and block tracker information while giving you access to more private browsing options.
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