Turn Off Personalized Ads Wherever You Can

Personalized ads require companies to build detailed profiles of your behavior — what you search, what you buy, what you read, where you go. Turning off ad personalization does not eliminate ads, but it stops feeding the surveillance machinery that makes them "relevant."

On Google, go to adssettings.google.com. On Apple, go to Settings > Privacy > Apple Advertising. On Facebook, check Ad Preferences. Most major platforms have an opt-out buried in their settings. You will still see ads, but they will be generic rather than eerily specific. The real win is not about the ads themselves — it is about reducing the amount of behavioral data being collected about you.