The Accuracy of the Demographic Inferences Shown on Google's Ad Settings
This research addresses the accuracy of demographic targeting in online advertising for users and advertisers, but it is incremental as it focuses on validation without proposing new methods.
The study compared Google's inferred demographic data from Ad Settings to self-reported survey data from 501 participants, finding that when inferences are shown, they are typically correct, but often no inference is provided.
Google's Ad Settings shows the gender and age that Google has inferred about a web user. We compare the inferred values to the self-reported values of 501 survey participants. We find that Google often does not show an inference, but when it does, it is typically correct. We explore which usage characteristics, such as using privacy enhancing technologies, are associated with Google's accuracy, but found no significant results.