Google is introducing a new “mute this ad” icon in order to allow users to choose what ads they want to see, and which ones they don’t.
A small “x” will appear as an icon at the top of a number of ads on the Google Display Network, which when clicked on sends an “ad muted” confirmation.
This means that the particular advertising campaign the ad is part of will not be shown to the specific user who chooses to click the “mute” button.
Google is developing the system in order to increase the relevance of ads seen by users, and to help improve ad targeting.
However, there are no plans by the company to communicate to advertisers how often certain ads or campaigns have been muted.