22
If Google actually honors this setting.
They do. When enabled, they don't use it to serve you ads based on those things.
They still collect and sell it. They just don't show you ads based on it.
It also, consequently, makes the advertisements which they show to you *far* less valuable. So this feature is not widely advertised.
I do wonder how much more effective surveillance capitalism-style ads are compared to ads like what DuckDuckGo has that are based on what you’re searching for right now, or ads based on the content being viewed. I’d personally be more likely to click on an ad based on my current search or content I’m viewing where it’s directly obvious how they know my interest, as opposed to seeing a creepy ad on a random website where they magically know I recently considered buying new shoes.
The joke is on them as I am the sort of person who does not see the ads. I mean I see them of course, but they extremely rarely make me interested. Like it is very rare that I see an ad and click on it. This the case on all platforms and I am not blocking my data. I wonder what % of people are like me as I cannot be the only one? I am not even saying that there could not be more ads I would be interested in, but clearly the tech no matter how advanced they say it is, is not very sophisticated as of yet.
I used to be the same, but I eventually got sick of seeing these constant requests to spend my money on whoever's product. If I see a problem that can be solved with a product, I know tlwhere to find stores, and I'll go look for it. I don't need 45,000 attempts at my money in case one is what I need. So I block all ads, pointedly avoid sponsored results, and use my own brain to decide what I want, when I want it.
Plus it improves my experience on all services when the UI isn't wasted on banners and games don't play a video every thirty seconds. I haven't yet figured out how to block real-world ads. Maybe XR glasses with a brand censoring mod lol
Yea, but then you get an absolute fuck tonne of gambling or ai girlfriend ads because they will not limit their advertising scope.
There's ads on the Internet?
Every once in a while i reglimpse the other side of how humanity lives online (my video downloader thats most convenient conveniently doesnt have an adblocker, its a fucking nightmare). Its the stuff of slow suicides
You can use uBlock Origin (browser extension) to block all advertisements. Then in the event you visit a site you want to support, turn it off.
Doesn't stop chromecasted videos.
Setup a Pi Hole for network level ad blocking.
Chromecast streaming sticks have locked in DNS settings, so a Pi-hole does not help there.
That's unfortunate. Can't say I'm surprised. Google is garbage.
Go through all your settings: https://myactivity.google.com/more-activity
This. I thoroughly checked all of my account's settings and toggled off about 15 switches related to history or data access. Not only that, Google can occasionally add new ones or toggle them back on, either through deceptive user prompts or underhanded updates.
Wait, you guys are getting ads?
For a layman this sounds counterintuitive. Get non personalised ads sounds like you are going to be bombarded with obscene ads which you don't want. But in reality it's way worse turning it on. I was suprised I had it turned on for a very long time because when I made my account it sounded like that.
"prevents"
Turning off the targeted ads settings indeed prevents Google from showing you overtly targeted ads. It makes no claim that it prevents Google from harvesting the same data that is used to target ads
YSK: If you turn off this feature, you cant use the “never show this ad again” feature on YouTube.
I have mixed feelings about this because if Chik Fil A wants to waste its money repeatedly showing its ads to a gay vegetarian — by all means, let me help you empty your pockets. But if you’re Kristy Noem showing me a “we’re going to deport you” ad — i want to throw my remote at my TV.
I prefer the “never see any ads again” feature in uBlock Origin.
Regrettably, that doesn’t work on my TV.
PiHole. AdGuardHome. There are options.
I've turned off all the history tracking on my google account for years. I'm sure somewhere in their data lake, the data exists. They just don't make it available to see on the web. I think this probably because when presented with a subpoena, they seems to have the data. Shocking, I know.
Oh yeah. One of my probably unprovable theories is that the data they collected on me will always be floating around, I can just do my best to stop new data being harvested and, potentially, old data might be unsellable. Like when Daniel Radcliffe didn't update his outfit for several months and paparazzi couldn't sell the photos they took of him to magazines because they all looked outdated and therefore inaccurate
this post was submitted on 18 Jan 2026
22 points (89.3% liked)
You Should Know
43346 readers
360 users here now
YSK - for all the things that can make your life easier!
The rules for posting and commenting, besides the rules defined here for lemmy.world, are as follows:
Rules (interactive)
Rule 1- All posts must begin with YSK.
All posts must begin with YSK. If you're a Mastodon user, then include YSK after @youshouldknow. This is a community to share tips and tricks that will help you improve your life.
Rule 2- Your post body text must include the reason "Why" YSK:
**In your post's text body, you must include the reason "Why" YSK: It’s helpful for readability, and informs readers about the importance of the content. **
Rule 3- Do not seek mental, medical and professional help here.
Do not seek mental, medical and professional help here. Breaking this rule will not get you or your post removed, but it will put you at risk, and possibly in danger.
Rule 4- No self promotion or upvote-farming of any kind.
That's it.
Rule 5- No baiting or sealioning or promoting an agenda.
Posts and comments which, instead of being of an innocuous nature, are specifically intended (based on reports and in the opinion of our crack moderation team) to bait users into ideological wars on charged political topics will be removed and the authors warned - or banned - depending on severity.
Rule 6- Regarding non-YSK posts.
Provided it is about the community itself, you may post non-YSK posts using the [META] tag on your post title.
Rule 7- You can't harass or disturb other members.
If you harass or discriminate against any individual member, you will be removed.
If you are a member, sympathizer or a resemblant of a movement that is known to largely hate, mock, discriminate against, and/or want to take lives of a group of people and you were provably vocal about your hate, then you will be banned on sight.
For further explanation, clarification and feedback about this rule, you may follow this link.
Rule 8- All comments should try to stay relevant to their parent content.
Rule 9- Reposts from other platforms are not allowed.
Let everyone have their own content.
Rule 10- The majority of bots aren't allowed to participate here.
Unless included in our Whitelist for Bots, your bot will not be allowed to participate in this community. To have your bot whitelisted, please contact the moderators for a short review.
Rule 11- Posts must actually be true: Disiniformation, trolling, and being misleading will not be tolerated. Repeated or egregious attempts will earn you a ban. This also applies to filing reports: If you continually file false reports YOU WILL BE BANNED! We can see who reports what, and shenanigans will not be tolerated. We are not here to ban people who said something you don't like.
If you file a report, include what specific rule is being violated and how.
Partnered Communities:
You can view our partnered communities list by following this link. To partner with our community and be included, you are free to message the moderators or comment on a pinned post.
Community Moderation
For inquiry on becoming a moderator of this community, you may comment on the pinned post of the time, or simply shoot a message to the current moderators.
Credits
Our icon(masterpiece) was made by @clen15!
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS