I'm taking back control of my Play Store experience by turning off this feature

21 Sep 2024, 10:53 by Matthew Sholtz · Android Police

I'm rarely shy about the fact I can't stand Google inserting ads into every nook and cranny of its apps and services. But for once, Google has done us all a solid by adding a way to opt out of its Play Store personalization and activity collection. Sure, we are auto-opted into Google collecting our app data so it can better target ads, which is smarmy, but at least Google has also provided a way to easily opt out.

You may have noticed a recent email detailing the new Personalization in Play setting in the Play Store, where we can all tailor our personalized Play Store experience. And seeing that I can't stand personalized ads and do not wish to let Google use my app activity to serve me targeted advertisements, I've opted out, and if you're like me and sick of Google using your data to line its pockets, here's how I did it.

The Play Store's recent changes are like rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic

Yay, more ads for things I don't want or need

How to opt out of Google's Play Store personalization

It's actually pretty easy

The first thing you'll want to do is peruse Google's support page that covers how to personalize your Google Play Store experience. It handles the basics of how to control Google's data collection, which I have detailed in full directly below.

First, open the Play Store on your Android device.
Now tap on your profile picture, which will pop up with your Play Store settings options.
Tap on the new Personalization in Play setting; this will bring you to a new page.
At this point, you can see whether your data is saved by Play. If it is, you can tap on Play personalization and history to turn off this data collection in full, or even drill down to which apps and services can save your data, toggling them on or off at your discretion.
There are two options when turning off your Web & App Activity, one allows you to turn off collection in a single step, or you can choose to turn off collection and delete your activity, which takes three steps.
If you choose to delete your activity, you can choose this activity on a per-app basis, with little check boxes, ranging from ads to YouTube. This way, you can continue to allow Google to collect particular data you find useful, such as if you want your YouTube history to be used in the new Play Store Collections widget.

And that's really all there is to it. Google has provided a relatively easy way to opt out of its newest data collection, with enough options to only opt out of the collection you won't utilize.

Sure, all of this was likely spurred by the new Play Store Collections widget, which uses your app data to showcase recommendations (ads) throughout the widget, from YouTube videos recommended from your watch history to Best Buy products themed around what you previously looked at in the Best Buy app. So, it would seem users now have some control over what apps can and can't harvest your data for targeted Play Store ads, which I certainly appreciate.

Google Play's new Collections widget wants you to spend, consume, repeat

It's launching in the US today

Why allow targeted recommendations when they are often pretty worthless

Easy answer, don't

For me, I opted out of everything, as I know what I like, and I don't need Google to recommend anything to me, ever. Plus, who are we kidding here? Google has had access to my deepest desires for a couple of decades now, and I've yet to see a targeted ad from the company that actually advertises anything I'd ever buy. So, what sounds helpful on first blush, I've found to be anything but, which is why I opted out of the Play Store's data collection immediately. And now you can, too.