Optout.aboutads.info is a website that claims to offer consumers a choice to opt out of interest-based advertising from participating companies. Interest-based advertising is a type of online advertising that uses information about your web browsing behavior to tailor ads to your interests and preferences. Some people may find this type of advertising useful and relevant, while others may find it intrusive and annoying.
But how effective and trustworthy is optout.aboutads.info? Is it a reliable tool to protect your online privacy and control the ads you see? Or is it a scam that does not work as advertised and may expose you to more risks?
To answer these questions, we have conducted a thorough research on optout.aboutads.info, using various sources of information such as web search results, customer reviews, and website analysis tools. Here are the main findings of our review:
- Optout.aboutads.info is operated by the Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA), a consortium of industry associations and companies that set standards and best practices for online advertising. The DAA claims to represent more than 2,000 companies that are responsible for 86% of online advertising in the US.
- Optout.aboutads.info uses a tool called WebChoices, which scans your browser for cookies from participating companies and allows you to opt out of receiving interest-based ads from them. You can also view the privacy policies and opt-out mechanisms of each company individually.
- Optout.aboutads.info has a high rank of 84.70 on Scam Detector, which means that it is reliable, legitimate, and secure. The rank is based on 53 relevant factors, such as domain age, traffic, reviews, social media presence, and SSL certificate.
- Optout.aboutads.info has a mixed reputation among customers, according to Trustpilot. Out of 10 reviews, it has an average rating of 3.8 out of 5 stars. Some customers praise the website for giving them a choice and reducing the number of unwanted ads they see, while others complain that the tool does not work for most of the companies, that it is difficult to use, and that it does not actually stop the ads but only changes their content.
- Optout.aboutads.info has a moderate traffic volume, according to SimilarWeb. It has an estimated 1.5 million monthly visits, with most of them coming from the US (77%), followed by Canada (6%) and India (4%). The average visit duration is 2 minutes and 18 seconds, and the bounce rate is 61%. The website ranks 7th among its competitors in the category of Advertising Networks.
Based on these findings, we can conclude that optout.aboutads.info is not a scam, but it may not be very effective or user-friendly either. It may offer some degree of control over the ads you see online, but it does not guarantee complete privacy or security. It also depends on the cooperation and compliance of the participating companies, which may vary in quality and reliability.
Therefore, if you want to use optout.aboutads.info, you should be aware of its limitations and drawbacks, and also consider other ways to protect your online privacy and preferences, such as using ad blockers, browser extensions, VPNs, or alternative browsers.