Use My Ad Center to review Google’s ad personalization, but distinguish ad preferences from general activity history. Turning personalized ads off does not remove all advertising, delete your Google Account history, or change the settings of every other advertising company.
Review the main personalization choice
Open myadcenter.google.com and confirm the account. Find the Personalized ads status, choose the available on or off control, and read the confirmation. When signed in, this account setting affects the relevant Google advertising experience across signed-in devices.
With personalization off, you can still see ads selected using context such as the page topic, current search, time, or general location. An ad that matches the page you are viewing does not prove personalization has been turned back on. Google also says preferred ad topics and brands are deleted when you turn this setting off, so review that consequence before confirming.
Choose which information can be used for ads
If personalization is enabled, open Manage Privacy. Review the available controls for activity on sites and apps, YouTube History for ads, and areas where you have used Google. Read the description of each control before changing it.
Excluding YouTube History from ad personalization does not itself stop YouTube from saving history or using it for recommendations. The same distinction matters for other activity: a restriction on advertising use is not automatically a deletion or a pause in general history saving.
Check partner sites and signed-out use
Google provides separate Partner ad settings for websites and apps using its advertising services. Turning personalization off in My Ad Center also turns off Google’s personalized ads on those partners; turning it off only in Partner ad settings does not turn it off on Google’s own services. Other companies’ ad platforms remain separate.
When signed out, choices can be specific to the browser or device. Cookie restrictions can also affect available partner settings. Some accounts, including those Google identifies as under 18, cannot enable personalized ads. Do not alter an age or disable browser protections just to reveal a switch that is unavailable for that account.
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References
Reviewed against the linked official and developer guidance on October 27, 2026. Available options and screen labels can vary by account, device, region, and organization policy.