Google is adding new ways to track you for ads, but it’s letting you call the shots

Since it began, Google has kept the vast amount of user data it tracks in silos. Information gathered from users while signed into Google accounts — searches, YouTube videos watched — was kept separate from data on web pages and apps visited. Not anymore. The company is rolling out a new service that pools data from across the entire web and mobile devices, giving it a potential boost to its core ads business. The big caveat: It’s giving users total control — and with that, they’ll have the freedom to block particular ads carte blanche.

It’s a way for Google to get ahead of the growth of ad-blocking. By building the feature opt-in, it’s also a way for Google to combat criticism of its privacy practices. Digital advertisers have long clamored for solutions that can track customers from their desktop browser to their phone and back. Google is finally setting the stage for that.