On this page
- Questions about ads and your privacy
- Questions about your activity on Google and ads
- Questions about customising your ad experience
Questions about ads and your privacy
Does Google listen to my phone calls or read my emails?
No. Google respects that your conversations are personal and private. We don’t use information from your phone calls, emails or services like Google Drive to influence the ads that you’re shown.
Does Google sell or share my personal information?
It’s always your choice to share information with Google. Your personal information isn’t sold or shared with advertisers, publishers like websites and apps or other companies. The data that advertisers get about their audiences is aggregated and doesn’t share any personal information about you.
How does Google make money?
Google's main source of revenue is from ads on our own sites and apps. Advertisers tell Google the types of audiences that they want to reach, and we try to show their ads to people in those groups. Each of Google’s products and services show ads in different ways to help reach new and existing customers.
Google also makes money by helping other sites and apps make money with advertising. These sites and apps use our ad technology to show their ads. We keep a portion of the money that advertisers pay, and the rest goes to the partner site or app.
Learn more about How Google makes money.
Let’s say you’re looking for info about guitar lessons using Google Search. If an advertiser tells Google they want to show ads based on the keyword 'guitars', you might be shown an ad from that advertiser. If you click on one of those ads, the advertiser pays Google. If you see the ad and don't click it, the advertiser isn’t charged and Google makes no money.
How does Google make guesses about me?
You can review which categories you’re currently getting ads for in My Ad Centre’s Manage privacy tab. When a business places an ad, it often chooses which categories of people it wants to show its ads to. For example, a roofing service may choose to show its ads to homeowners instead of renters.
Your activity on Google Sites and apps is used to determine which categories are most relevant to you, and then show you ads meant for people in that category. If these ads aren't a good fit for your interests, you can update or turn off any category.
Let’s say you use Google Search to look for diapers for a toddler. Based on this, Google might estimate that you’re interested in other products meant for people in the category 'Parents of toddlers'.
What if my status is different than the options in a category?
We only show categories that are used for personalised ads, so options for some categories may be limited. Sometimes, you may want to get ads for a different category than what we've estimated.
When you turn off a category, your info for that category will be deleted and that category won't be used to show you ads. If you turn off personalised ads, all of your category info will be deleted and won’t be used to personalise ads.
To turn on or off a category for ads:
- In My Ad Centre, select Manage privacy
.
- Under 'Categories used to show you ads', select the category that you’d like to turn on or off.
- On the page for that category, use the toggle to change your setting.
To update a category:
- In My Ad Centre, select Manage privacy
- Under 'Categories used to show you ads', select the category that you’d like to control or update.
- Select the option that fits your interests.
When you update a category, your changes will be saved within My Ads. You'll start to receive ads meant for people in that category in a few days. If you turn off personalised ads, all of your category info will be deleted and won't be used to personalise ads.
Questions about your activity on Google and ads
How does Google use my saved activity?
Your saved activity is used on Google for two types of things: personalised product experiences and personalised ads. You can decide if your activity is used for either and if it's saved to your Google Account.
Personalised product experiences use your activity to give you better recommendations in Maps, Search and other Google services.
If you search for chocolate cake, and then search again for 'how to make', Google might be more likely to predict that you’re searching for 'how to make chocolate cake'.
Learn more about how to Find and control your Web & App Activity.
Personalised ads use your activity to help show you more relevant and interesting ads on Google services like Search and YouTube.
If you’ve recently searched for info about how to make a chocolate cake, you might see an ad on YouTube about cake baking supplies.
Learn more about how to Control what data Google uses to show you ads.
What's the difference between saving my activity and using it for ads?
We use your saved activity from your Google Account to improve personalised recommendations like YouTube videos. Saving your activity on Google to your Google Account means that it can be used to help create better personalised recommendations for you, like YouTube video recommendations. You can control whether your activity is saved to your Google Account in My Activity.
Your activity can also be used to help show you more relevant and interesting ads on Google services. You can control whether your activity is used for ads in My Ad Centre.
Learn more about how to Control what data Google uses to show you ads.
How do I find and control my Web & App Activity?
You can manage your Web & App Activity using My Activity.
Learn more about how to Find and control your Web & App Activity.
How do I find and control my YouTube History?
You can manage your YouTube Search History using My Activity.
Learn more about how to View or delete your YouTube Search History.
How do I find and control my Location History?
You can find and control your Location History by visiting My Activity.
Learn more about how to Manage your Location History.
How does Google use info about where I've been to personalise ads?
When you use Google services, Google estimates the general area that you’re searching from and saves that info with your Web & App activity. This location information helps Google show you more relevant ads. You can turn on or off using these areas for personalised ads at any time.
- If 'Areas where you’ve used Google' is on and you search for coffee, you might see an ad for a local coffee shop.
- If 'Areas where you’ve used Google' is off and you search for coffee, you might see an ad for a coffee shop in a different town.
To control whether the areas where you’ve used Google may be used for ads:
- In My Ad Centre, select Manage privacy
- Under 'Activity used to personalise ads', select Areas where you’ve used Google.
- Select the toggle to turn on or off Use areas to personalise ads.
- Confirm your preference by selecting Turn off.
This setting affects the ads on all Google sites and apps.
When you turn off Areas where you’ve used Google for ads, it won’t be used to help personalise the ads you see. The area’s where you’ve used Google may still be saved to your Google Account, and you may still get personalised recommendations on Google services.
Questions about customising your ad experience
Why am I still being shown an ad, even though I blocked or reported it?
Ad blocking is imperfect and sometimes we miss blocking an ad for you. You might be seeing an ad even though you've blocked or reported it for the following reasons:
- Google doesn't show every ad on the web. If you’re on a non-Google site or app, a different ad technology company might be showing you that ad.
- Advertisers use many different formats and styles of ads for the same products, and you might be seeing an ad similar to the one you blocked.
Learn more about how to Report an ad.
Why am I still being shown ads related to a category that I've turned off?
When you turn off a category, your info for that category will be deleted and that category won't be used to show you personalised ads on Google services, like Search and YouTube.
- If you’re on a non-Google site or app, a different ad technology company might be showing you that ad.
- If you're on a Google site or app, you might see an ad that seems related to a category that you’ve turned off because of other preferences that you’ve set in My Ad Centre or because the ad is contextual. Contextual ads are based on factors like the time of day, the topic of the website that you're visiting, your approximate current location or your current search.
Why can't I block sensitive topics entirely?
We’ll do our best not to show you ads about the topics that you limit. In some cases, you might still see an ad containing images related to the topic that you’ve limited. For example, you might see an airline ad featuring someone holding a glass of champagne. This isn’t an alcohol ad, even though the ad shows alcohol.
In other cases, you might still be shown an ad about a topic that you’ve limited if you search for info about one of those topics or you watch a video related to those topics.
Why can’t I limit more sensitive topics?
At the moment, you can limit ads about: alcohol, dating, gambling, parenting and pregnancy, as well as weight loss. These were selected based on extensive user research into what topics people find most sensitive. As we continue to conduct research, we may include additional topics in the future.
Do the choices I make in My Ad Centre affect the ads that I see on other sites?
The choices you make in My Ad Centre affect the ads that you're shown on Google services like Search and YouTube. When you turn on or off personalised ads in My Ad Centre, that choice affects whether or not ads are personalised on Google services as well as sites that partner with Google to show ads.
Not every website partners with Google to show ads. Turning on or off personalised ads in My Ad Centre does not affect the kinds of ads from other ad technology companies or the ads that you're shown on sites that have their own ads platforms.