YouTube received feedback from its user community,
suggesting that people would like to limit ads in certain categories, such as
online gambling. As a result, YouTube will now let its users hide gambling and
alcohol ads if they don’t want to see such content.
Online gambling advertising is something that has increased noticeably
in recent years, hence having children and young people exposed to these ads. Director
for Wales at Alcohol Change UK, Andrew Misell, said that there have been
increasing concerns regarding how technology is introducing alcohol and
gambling marketing into places that it could never reach, and is potentially
damaging particularly for those who struggle with addiction.
Moreover, ad impressions (the number of times an ad appears
on the screen) for gambling sites have increased more than twice during the Covid
pandemic.
YouTube’s new ad filtering tool, however, doesn’t guarantee
filtering of all ads. There is also an existing feature related to ads on
YouTube, which lets users adjust personalized ads.
The new tool which will allow switching off certain ad
categories is expected to roll out to users in the US, followed by UK, and
eventually to other countries in the coming year.
Furthermore, the feature may also be expanded to Google ads
as it runs a major part of the entire digital advertising market.
