Sunday, January 13, 2008

Get Rid of Ads on Your Gmail

I always feel slightly intruded upon whenever I see ads targeted at my e-mail content. Now, I know that it is only a computer program that sifts through my e-mail on Gmail and serves up related ads - but nonetheless I always feel a little annoyed (especially when it interprets every reference to findingDulcinea as proof that I must be looking for Don Quixote memorabilia - which - if you are - we have a Don Quixote Guide for).

So - anyhow - you can't turn off all of those annoying google ads - but you can turn off the one on the top of your e-mail inbox (which google refers to as "Web clips").

Here is an example of what they look like (the "Web clip" is the top one and my e-mail subject - which google used to generate the web clip - is the lower one).








See how google knew that I was looking for flights? Well, to me that is just annoying.

So, I decided to turn that feature off.

Go to your "settings" in gmail - you can find that button in the upper right corner of your gmail screen:






(Also - by the way - I'm using the All the Write Sites e-mail address for this - feel free to send me feedback anytime you like).

So, once on your settings page, you should click on the "Web clips" tab - and the page should look like this (minus the red circles - I added those):










(Sorry about the low-resolution image here - but you get the general idea).

The two area's I've circled in red are the check box to turn off the Web Clips completely, and the option to remove just certain Web clip providers.

The reason that I chose to turn off all Web clips? Because even if I "remove" a few listed providers I still have to look at the random paid Web clips (like the one in my example above) - and you can't turn those off without turning off the whole feature.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for reminding me that I can control the Webclips in gmail! I've always known that I could, always reminded myself to change the setting, and then I always forget. Perhaps it is because I don't really care that much if they target me - I never click on a Webclip. But my question for you is... do you know if Google uses the data they scan from your emails for any purpose other than to target Webclip adverts at you? I'm interested in your thoughts...

Haley Lovett said...

Sassy - That's a good question, I'll look into it. It is true that I also do not click on the Webclips, but there is something nice about being able to eliminate a bit of clutter from your e-mail inbox.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for that tip my friend - and for taking the time explain everything. Very helpful!

Anonymous said...

If you use Firefox, it will automatically block the ads on the righ.

Eric said...

THANK YOU.

Anonymous said...

Thanks!!! those webclips freaked me out!

Anonymous said...

Ah the relief to get rid of web clips, thanks you soooo much :)

Anonymous said...

How can I thank you enough.
Now I can get rid of porn movies ads on my gmail page
Even though I've never searched for those kind of movies, I don't know why the link kept appear on my gmail page
And the funny thing is after I typed "how can I get rid of porn movies ads on gmail", the window internet is not responding, I closed it and reopened it : no more porn movie ads on my gmail page, but I used your tip and.... Thanks again

Anonymous said...

I sent email from my staff to clients and I just discovered that Google is placing an add for a competitive product at the bottom of each of my emails. How in the hell did THAT happen? And how do I get rid of it?!

Anonymous said...

Thanks so much. THose things irritated the out of me.

Anonymous said...

Thanks a million, have been trying to figure out how to get rid of those pesky web clips for ages!

Anonymous said...

Thanks. I know it now. Great.

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Anonymous said...

Thanks, those annoyed me so much!

Anonymous said...

FINALLY!!!!!!! THANK YOU!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Thank you!!!

Compu Nana said...

What if the webclips tab isn't there?