Google has launched a new extension for Google Chrome that provides more transparency in terms of Google ads.
The Ads Transparency Spotlight extension is available on the official Chrome Web Store. “Our new Ads Transparency Spotlight (Alpha) extension for Chrome is part of our ongoing initiative to give people more visibility into the data used to personalise ads and more control over that data,” Google said.
The extension will provide more insights into ads that are purchased through Google ads. Users will be able to see why a particular ad is being displayed, the ad tech companies helping to display these ads and the ad platform companies serving these ads on a web page.
The extension will also list all companies and services that are active on the page, including content delivery networks and analytics providers). Google will add more controls to the extension.
The extension is being implemented through Google’s Ad Disclosure Schema. Therefore, it will only show this information for ad providers that have purchased ads with the schema.
“As others implement this schema, these ads will also appear in the extension. Over time, we hope the industry will incorporate the Ad Disclosure Schema into their ads,” Google said.
Efforts to maintain trust
The extension is part of the search giant’s broader efforts to maintain user trust while implementing its advertising model. It has drawn flak in the future with policies related to the advertising business and privacy in general. It has been revamping its ad transparency and privacy control policies since 2019, ZDNet reported.
It had also improved its overall privacy controls back in June including changes to its data retention practices.