Forget Privacy: Reddit No Longer Lets You Opt Out Of Personalized Ads

In a recent development, Reddit has taken a decision to disallow its users from opting out of ad personalization, instigating concerns among the platform’s user base.

What Happened: Reddit is ending the option for users to opt out of ad personalization based on their on-site activity. This decision is a part of several changes that are being made to its privacy, advertising, and location settings, the company revealed in a post.

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Reddit’s head of privacy, Jutta Williams, stood by the company’s decision, stating that Reddit asks for “very little personal information” and that this change will help the company to “better predict which ad may be most relevant to you.”

Williams reassured that a majority of Reddit users “will see no change to their ads,” and those who had previously opted out of ad personalization will not witness an increase in ads or sharing of their activity with advertisers.

Williams also specified that this update won’t alter “the way we collect or share data.” Exceptions have been made for “select countries,” but the details of these exceptions remain undisclosed.

The new updates will also enable users to see fewer ads from specific categories like gambling, alcohol, weight loss, and dating. Reddit stated that its process of manually tagging these ads with machine learning might not be 100% successful initially but anticipates improvements over time.

Why It Matters: Reddit’s decision comes on the heels of its recent introduction of a new contributor program to monetize user engagement. 

This program, which allows content creators to earn real money from their contributions on the platform, is seen as an attempt by Reddit to emulate the successful monetization strategies of other social media platforms.

The changes in ad personalization policies could be considered part of this broader strategy to increase the monetization of user activity on the platform.

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