Google is enabling publishers to show non-personalised ads

Over the past year Google has been preparing to meet the requirements of the GDPR, the new data protection law coming into force on 25 May 2018. The GDPR affects European and non-European businesses using online advertising and measurement solutions when their sites and apps are accessed by users in the European Economic Area (EEA).

Google shared more about their preparations for the GDPR – including the updated EU User Consent Policy, changes to their contract terms, and changes to their products, to help both Google clients and Google meet the new requirements.

Google’s EU User Consent Policy is being updated to reflect the new legal requirements of the GDPR. It sets out your responsibilities for making disclosures to, and obtaining consents from, end users in the EEA. For example, under that policy, advertisers will be required to obtain consent from users for the collection of data for personalized ads (e.g. remarketing tags to build audience lists) and for the use of cookies where legally required (e.g. conversion tags). The policy is incorporated into the contracts for most Google ads and measurement products globally.

Here the changes that Google announced:

Contract changes

We have been rolling out updates to our contracts for many products since last August, reflecting Google’s status as either a processor or a controller under the new law (see full classification of our Ads products). The new GDPR terms supplement your contract with Google and will come into force on 25 May 2018.

• For AdWords customers globally, our GDPR terms are incorporated into the terms of service, which (if you’ve not done so already) you can accept in your account. In the case of AdWords Customer Match and Store Sales Direct, Google acts as a processor; for the rest of AdWords we act as a controller.
• For customers using DoubleClick and the Google Analytics (GA) Suite, processor terms are available for you to review and accept from within your account. If you are an EEA client of GA, data processing terms will be included in your terms shortly. GA customers based outside EEA and all GA 360 customers may accept the terms from within GA.
• If you don’t contract with Google for your use of Google products, you should seek advice from the parties with whom you contract.

Product changes

To comply, and support your compliance with GDPR, we are:

• Making some changes across the network of publisher sites on which your ads may appear – enabling publishers to show non-personalised ads and to select which third parties measure and serve ads for EEA users on their sites and apps.
• Taking steps to limit the processing of personal information for children under the GDPR Age of Consent in individual member states.
• Unifying our ads data retention practices; and launching new controls for Google Analytics customers to manage the retention and deletion of their data.
• Exploring consent solutions for publishers, including working with industry groups like IAB Europe.

Find out more

You can refer to privacy.google.com/businesses to learn more about Google’s data privacy policies and approach, as well as view our data processing terms and data controller terms.