14 DAY TRIAL // Google's AdWords team announced a new tool which will let online advertisers upload email lists and then create ads that target those specific users if logged in on Internet-connected devices using their Google account.
This new tool is called Customer Match and works for Google Search ads, YouTube Trueview ads, and with Gmail's recently added native ads.
Technically, this feature is far more superior when compared to Google's previous user targeting tools, which usually relied on (blockable browser) cookies and (sometimes unreliable) Google searches.
The Customer Match targeting feature can be turned off
If your first reaction is to scream at your screen demanding Google for your privacy, then you're probably over-reacting because, unknown to you, Facebook and Twitter have been providing the very same feature for years.
The only problem with Facebook and Twitter's email-targeting offering is that it only spans one single platform: their own. Google, on the other hand, has a little bit more products which it can target.
Regardless, if this still bothers you, there's a Google Ads Settings page where you can go and turn off this feature by unchecking the "Ads based on your interests" option.
A creepy feature, but not as bad as you'd first think
This tool is not as bad as you'd first imagine. Just think that instead of random ads showing men underwear everywhere you go, you get to see ads that are close to your topics of interests, like painting or traveling.
Advertisers usually build up those lists from newsletters. So if you'd signed up for a newsletter, you probably knew what you were doing.
Of course, there's also the possibility of abuse, with online advertisers purchasing bulk email lists on the Dark Web, but that possibility exists with every online service and has existed in AdWords since it was created.
Just a few days ago, we reported about a malvertising campaign targeting AdWords users.