Despite some people not liking the idea, Google is still going ahead with their new Ad Topics plan for showing you ads on websites. They are making Chrome closer to the companies that display ads. This change is disguised as a Chrome update that enhances privacy, but it may be so Google is ready for any complaints about it. The update has likely already started for some people using Chrome on their computers and phones. If you’ve seen the notification, now could be a good time to try a different browser.
Ad Topics wants to move away from cookies, which is how websites know it’s you coming back. Instead, Google will build a profile of topics you are interested in. This will help companies personalize the ads you see without needing information like your name. Other browsers like Firefox and Safari block some cookies, which hurts Google’s ad business. So Ad Topics lets Google make more money in a new way.
Google says Ad Topics will let them get rid of traditional cookies in Chrome eventually. They say it will also reduce how much data other companies collect about you and lump users together more anonymously for ads. This sounds better than cookies. But Google gets to control your privacy on the internet while making money from ads, which is a conflict of interest.
‘A Change of Browsers Could Improve Your Online Privacy’
Ad Topics only works on Chrome for now, so a good way to avoid it is to stop using Google’s browser. There are many privacy-focused browsers for Android phones like Firefox, which already blocks tracking cookies by default. On computers, browsers similar to Chrome but without Ad Topics support include Microsoft Edge. You can even use Chrome extensions with Edge.
If you must keep Chrome, you can disable Ad Topics in Settings for now. But Google plans to make it the standard tracking method eventually. Just changing browsers may not fully prevent Google learning about you either. Ad Topics classifiers will be added to Android itself too. So even if you ditch Chrome, Google may still build a profile based on your phone app usage.
In the end, Google’s main goal with Ad Topics seems to be gathering more data about users to sell better targeted ads. They are dressing it up as a privacy solution, but really it just benefits their business. People should have more control over their online privacy instead of Google deciding how much they should know. It’s time for internet users to take back some control by leaving Chrome behind.
