YouTube lets users mute gambling and alcohol ads

[tysroby]

YouTube is rolling out tools that will let users hide gambling and alcohol ads if they do not want to view them. The new settings come in response to "feedback that some people would prefer to limit ads in certain categories," YouTube said. Online gambling advertising has increased substantially in recent years, leading to concerns about its impact on children and young people. The feature will not guarantee that all ads are filtered out.

 

In a blog post, Debbie Weinstein, a vice-president at YouTube, said: "We're launching a new control in ad settings, enabling people to see fewer alcohol ads, with gambling as an additional option." It will sit alongside an existing feature that allows people to adjust personalised ads. The feature to allow ads to be switched off will roll out in the US first and come to the UK and other countries later next year.  It may also be applied beyond YouTube, with the company saying it plans to bring it to all Google Ads - which runs a significant chunk of the entire digital advertising market - in 2021. Countries that already restrict ads related to gambling and alcohol will see no change.

 

How To Mute Gambling & Alcohol Ads

 

To access the page, the user just has to click on their profile icon when logged in to their Google account and choose Manage your Google Account. From there, click on either the Privacy & personalisation box or the Data & personalisation link in the side menu. On that page there is an Ad personalisation box and a link to the Ad Settings page. (For the direct link, click here.)  On Google's Ad Settings page, scroll down to the Ad categories on YouTube section, which is currently in beta, and there will be two selections. The user can choose to see fewer alcohol and gambling ads, respectively. Exactly how few is "fewer" is unclear, but it may be enough for some.

 

 

Why These Ads Show In The First Place

 

In addition to the new mutable categories, Google has an "About this ad" feature that lets the user know why the specific ad is being shown to them. While some of this comes down to what was searched and the time of day, a lot of it is tied to the user's Google account, such as their general location, age range, previous interactions with ads, sites visited, mobile app activity, and so on.

 

Even the ability to limit ads is tied to a user's Google account data. In other words, to mute ads on any of Google's services, ad personalisation needs to be turned on first. Otherwise, the user won't see any options in the Ad Settings. This may not be ideal for those users who feel the best way to deal with ads on Google sites is to not let the company keep track of their interactions, but it would mean they will likely need to occasionally contend with gambling, alcohol, and other ad content they might had previously muted.

 

Sources:

• https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-55273687
• https://screenrant.com/youtube-video-ads-gambling-alcohol-mute-how/

[Sylence]

With ublock origin and YouTube Vanced, why someone would watch YouTube ads anyway.

[halvgris]

i have really low focus especially when and how commercials are done.

you have 3-4 seconds to gain my focus and interest.

 

on pc i use ublock origin and others so i rarely see ads on yt. however lately i watch most yt on my ipads. one commercial was interesting but too slow so i tried to fast forward to get to the point. i was surprised this wasn't allowed but i was allowed to skip commercial. their loss.

 

to be more transparent by at least playing yt ads creators get a share. i do switch unit when a commercial comes so it's not as painful. on pc i sometimes turn on ads on yt to creators benefit while i listen to most clips while doing something else.