Google expands visibility with new Ads Transparency Center

BLOOMBERG

Alphabet Inc’s Google is launching a tool to make its advertising service more transparent, following rivals like Meta Platforms Inc and Twitter Inc that years ago released public, searchable archives of the ads that run on their digital platforms.
“Transparency breeds trust with people and with our partners, and helps keep us accountable for the work we do,” Dan Taylor, Google’s vice president of global ads, said in a press briefing. “One thing we’ve heard loud and clear from users is that they want to know more about who is showing them the ads that they are seeing online.”
The Ads Transparency Center, like the ones from Facebook and Twitter, will be a searchable hub of ads served on Google services. Google’s tool will show all ads served in the last 30 days from Google’s list of verified advertisers, the company said in a blog post.
The Google tool will include information about ads across the company’s platforms, including on search, YouTube and display, and will say which region they were shown in, the last date ran and the format. The tool is rolling out, Google said, and should be available to globally within the month on users’ My Ad Center tool as well as on a dedicated website.
Google’s efforts to increase visibility into its ads comes at a time when the company has been facing increasing pressure to prove its advertising products and services are good for consumers. The tech giant is by far the biggest player in global digital ads, with analyst Insider Intelligence estimating Google will generate $180.6 billion in ad revenue and capture 29% of the market in 2023.