Google is launching a new ad transparency center that will let users search for verified advertisers and their campaigns across all of the company's platforms, including Search, Display and YouTube.
This new transparency center — which is accessible directly via this link and through the My Ad Center page — will let you search for ads from a brand, in what region those ads were shown and the time they last ran a campaign, along with the format. Users can like or block the ad or even report it for violation of Google ad policies if those ads show dangerous products or inappropriate content, for instance. The Center is starting to roll out today and will be available to all users over the coming weeks.
Notably, Google launched the My Ad Center hub last year, which lets users see information about ad topics, brands and the recent ads they saw across Search, YouTube and Discover. Users can tweak these settings by removing topics or brands or turning off personalized ads entirely. It's important to remember that this doesn't mean you won't see any ads. It just won't be based on your preferences and search data.
Google said that, after the launch, 20% of the 70 million visits to the My Ad Center page were to adjust ad preferences. Given that billions of people use Google's platforms, this number doesn't seem that impressive.