Reddit Users Are Now Forced To See Personalized Ads

Reddit ad settings display after update (photo: Reddit)

JAKARTA - Head of Privacy at Reddit Jutta Williams announced several updates on privacy, advertising, and location settings on its platform, namely Reddit.

One of the most striking updates is the removal of the ability not to participate in personalizing advertisements based on Reddit activity.

"The goal is to simplify our privacy description, improve ad performance, and offer new controls for types of ads you like not to look at," Williams said in an announcement in a Reddit post.

Companies say they will still have opt-out controls in certain countries without specifying which countries. It is stated in a blog post that users will not see more ads but they will see better targeted ads after these changes.

This change is planned to roll out over the next few weeks and Reddit promises to announce it again if this update is available to everyone.

The company also advises its users to visit Safety & Privacy Settings, and check for updating these settings now, to find out if you like the update or not.

Reddit also added the ability to view fewer advertisements from certain categories such as Alcohol, Dating, Gambling, Pregnancy & Parenting, and Weight Loss, the company added.

Finally, Reddit also simplifies its location adjustment settings in one menu, which can be easily accessed via in-app settings and on-web settings.

"Previously, people could set the location of their choice in a number of ways. Once simplified, so now there is only one place to update your location preferences to help customize your passes and recommendations," concluded Reddit.

All of these updates will be rolled out in stages over the next few weeks.