How to opt-out of advertisers tracking cookies

Google has long been one of the top contenders when looking for web based advertising. One of the reason for Google's overwhelming success is their targeted ads. Google has recently taken their targeted ad network to an entire new level. This, as all too often is the case, is a two edged sword.


In itself this is a good idea for both the publisher and advertiser alike. The problem enters the equation when you add the 'Joe visitor' variable. You see, in order for Google to display ads to Joe that he will like, Google has to know what Joe likes. How do they gather this information. Simple - They have recently teamed up with many 3rd party advertising networks and created quite an infrastructure. Now, they place tracking cookies to track where you go, and all the data from these various companies are compiled together for a pretty complete profile of you.

How do we stop this?

Fortunately you can disable these cookies from the source. Google has even provided a Firefox add-on that will make sure your browser always remembers to block this cookie.

• To opt-out of the Google/Doubleclick tracking cookies click here.


• To opt-out of many 3rd party ad networks via the NAI (Network Advertising Initiative) click here.See below screenshot