Users on Reddit are being forced to accept personalized ads

Earlier this week, it was reported that Reddit users wouldn’t be able to skip ad personalization. In simple words, users will be presented with targeted content based on their Reddit usage. Currently, users have the choice to turn off the option named “personalize ads based on your Reddit activity and account info.” However, this option will soon be going away. According to Reddit, it will collect very little personal information from users. Based on this information, the platform will suggest ads that appear relevant to a user.

Reddit asks for very minimal personal information, which is something we prefer. Instead, to determine what you might be interested in, our advertisers rely on your platform activity, including the communities you join and leave as well as other indications like upvotes and downvotes. According to the company, a majority of users won’t observe any changes to their ads.

Users who previously declined to have their Reddit activity used to personalize their experience won’t see any additional advertisements as a result of this move. It does help our models determine which ads could be most pertinent to you.  With the new changes, users won’t find any option to turn off the ad personalization. Instead, the company will introduce new toggles that are aimed at limiting ads from particular segments like Gambling, Pregnancy and parenting, Alcohol, Dating, and Weight Loss.

In order to classify ads, machine learning will be used. However, the option to turn off ad personalization will be available in selected countries as an effort by the company to follow GDPR constraints. According to the company, the ad changes will be rolling out today.