We are enhancing our ads system to deliver better ad experiences for a world where people are using multiple devices. Beginning in 2016, Google users could choose to associate their cross-device web and app activity with their Google account to see more useful, personalized ads. And now, we are adding a new control for publishers in Ad Manager to help you earn more from these ads which are personalized based on users’ interests, demographics and Google account information.
What does this mean?
If you enable "Personalized ads" in Admin, visitation information from Google Ad Manager and Ad Exchange will be associated with the Google accounts of signed-in users who have consented to this association. These Google users will be able to view on their "My Activity” page their signed-in web, video, and mobile app activity across properties that use Ad Manager and Ad Exchange. Users control what's saved there and can delete past activity from their accounts.
In addition, this control allows Google Demand sources to use signed-in Google user data from your Ad Exchange-eligible inventory to show personalized ads to signed-in users based on their interests, demographics, and Google account information. These personalized ads will appear across devices on those portions of your sites and apps where Ad Exchange is eligible to compete, on Google owned and operated properties, and on participating publisher properties. Enhanced features of Google Demand sources will give advertisers the ability to reach the same user across devices, apps, and sites, thereby making the inventory more valuable.
What should I do?
Signed-in, cross-device ads are enabled for Ad Manager publishers by default, but your participation is 100% optional. If you like, you can opt out by unchecking the "Enable Google signed-in, cross-device personalized ads" control within the "Admin" section. Only “Administrator” users have permission to change this control. This control took effect in June 2017. Opting out may decrease the number of ads competing to appear on your website, which may decrease your earnings.
If a user visiting your properties is not a signed-in Google user that has consented to this association, or if you have opted out of Google’s signed-in cross-device features, then the existing "User-Based Data (Google Demand sources)" controls will continue to control targeting options and whether interest category information is gathered on your properties.
Informing users
You may also want to review how you inform your users about the way that companies like Google collect a user’s activity data from your site or app, and how this data may be associated with their account information (such as a user’s Google account). For example, your privacy policy may describe how your company collects and shares data, or you may present a consent message to your users in the European Union.
