USERS NO LONGER HAVE TO GO TO THEIR GOOGLE ACCOUNT PAGE TO ACCESS PRIVACY CONTROLS
Google updated its user privacy controls, allowing
users to delete their search activity — and control the ads they see — directly
from the Google Search home page both on desktop and the mobile web, as well as
from the Google Search iOS app.
As long as a user is signed into their account, they
will be able to access their search data without having to go to their Google
Account page and click through to the “Personal info & privacy” settings.
On the mobile web experience, “Your data in Search” will be a persistent menu
item on the home page as well as on results pages.
Why
search marketers should care
While this latest update from Google is a step in
the right direction in terms of user privacy, advertisers could be impacted in
two ways. First, it’s now easier for users to delete and control their search
data, making it more difficult to target ads to them. Second, users will be
able to react more quickly to ads they don’t want to see. One could argue that
such controls would help advertisers avoid serving ads to likely unresponsive
audiences, therefore allowing them to focus on more receptive individuals.
To control the ads we see when we search, Google
gives us access to our Ad Settings. Additionally, we can access our Activity
Controls to decide what information Google saves to our account and uses to
make Search and other Google services faster, smarter and more useful.
Giving users more direct access to control what
information Google saves will potentially limit available ad targeting data.
But, whether or not such efforts will impact advertisers will depend on how
readily users avail themselves of these privacy tools. Certainly, having a
call-to-action on its desktop home page, and a menu option within the mobile
experience, will make this more top-of-mind for Google searchers.
More
on Google’s latest user privacy control updates
Google says it plans to expand these privacy control
efforts to Google Maps in 2019, followed by releases in “many” other Google
products.
In addition to being able to delete recent search
activity, control ad settings and have access to Activity Controls, users will
also see a “How activity data makes Search work” message aimed at educating
them on how their settings and activity on Google impact search results.
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