Even the best of adblocker is unable to save our data from advertisements. In fact, often if we knew how our online activities are tracked, we wouldn't approve of it. For this reason Google has released a new one extension for Chrome which promises greater transparency.
The extension was released in Chrome web store in July 2020 and is currently still in the testing phase. His name is Ads Transparency Spotlight, a free extension whose purpose is to make users who are more aware of what data is being tracked by online ads to personalize advertisements and what control they may have over this data. Google is exploring the possibility of adding more features and asking users who install it to leave feedback to help improve Ads Transparency Spotlight.
Chrome, how the new extension works
To download the extension Ads Transparency Spotlight just go on Chrome web store and start the download. The version of the extension is still in phase "alpha", that is test. Once installed, it will be sufficient to visit a web page and click on the plugin icon that appears at the top of the browser on the right to see all the advertisements present. By clicking on the single ad, the user can access the data processing policies.
Chrome, the extension limits
La alpha version of the Chrome extension it is not yet functional on all websites, this is due to a limitation that Google is still considering. Ads Transparency Spotlight is able to read the information concerning only the advertisements purchased through Google ads, who then implemented theAd Disclosure Scheme, that is a system that allows you to insert a specific string of metadata in the ads that describes their behavior on the web page you are visiting at that moment.
Not all advertisements, especially those with shady user data targets, have adopted theAd Disclosure Scheme, therefore on these the extension of Chrome it may not work. The hope of Google is that in the advertising sector the scheme will be implemented in all advertisements in the future, but it will not be able to count with certainty on this eventuality.
Chrome, the new extension from Google that you absolutely must install
