In an effort to phase out third-party tracking cookies, Google introduced a new advertising architecture into Chrome known as the “Privacy Sandbox.” Instead of allowing websites to track your individual browsing history across the web, Chrome itself now monitors what you read, categorizes your interests, and reports these topics directly to advertisers.
While Google argues this is better for your privacy than traditional cookies, many users are deeply uncomfortable with their web browser actively analysing their reading habits to serve targeted advertisements. If you want Chrome to simply load web pages and stop acting as an advertising broker, you must manually disable the Privacy Sandbox features.
How to Turn Off Chrome Ad Privacy Features
You can disable these tracking metrics from the Chrome Privacy and Security settings menu.
- Open the Google Chrome browser.
- Click the three vertical dots in the top-right corner of the window.
- Select Settings from the drop-down menu.
- In the left-hand navigation sidebar, click on Privacy and security.
- In the main window on the right, click on Ad privacy.
- You will see three separate categories: Ad topics, Site-suggested ads, and Ad measurement.
- Click on Ad topics and turn the toggle switch Off.
- Click the back arrow, select Site-suggested ads, and turn the toggle switch Off.
- Click the back arrow again, select Ad measurement, and turn the toggle switch Off.
By turning off all three of these toggles, Chrome will stop recording your browsing topics, stop suggesting ads based on your local history, and stop reporting ad engagement metrics back to marketers. You will still see advertisements on the internet, but they will be generic rather than heavily targeted based on your browser’s internal data.