Last week Google said that it is rolling out the ability for all AdWords advertisers to run behaviorally targeted ads. Google spokesperson Andrea Faville said via email that the ads will be served “based on [consumers’] browsing history, not search history.”
In a company blog post announcing the expansion, Jon Krafcik, product manager at the Google Display Network, wrote that advertisers will be able to serve ads based on more than 1,000 interest categories “from ecotourism to mobile phones.”
Given the ongoing governmental scrutiny of behaviorally targeted ads, it’s not surprising that Krafcik makes sure to outline Google’s privacy measures.
“Users may, at any time, view and edit interest categories or permanently opt out of receiving interest-based ads entirely with the Ads Preferences Manager,” writes Krafcik. “Also, we label our ads with the AdChoices logo to give users notice and choice about the ads they see.”
The program had been in beta since March 2009. According to Krafcik, a shoe retailer participating in the beta program experienced a 400% rise in conversions by enabling the behavioral targeting.
