How to stop personalised ads on your phone and browser.
A practical guide for Indian users to reduce personalised ads: the settings to change on Android, iPhone, Google and your browser, step by step.
The simple answer
You cannot remove ads entirely, but you can make them far less personalised. The main levers are your Google and Meta ad settings, your phone advertising ID, and your browser cookie controls.
Turning off ad personalisation, resetting or limiting your advertising ID, and blocking third-party cookies together reduce how much your behaviour is used to target you.
What to check
If this is unclear, treat it as a signal to ask the company for a plain-English explanation.
If this is unclear, treat it as a signal to ask the company for a plain-English explanation.
If this is unclear, treat it as a signal to ask the company for a plain-English explanation.
If this is unclear, treat it as a signal to ask the company for a plain-English explanation.
If this is unclear, treat it as a signal to ask the company for a plain-English explanation.
You have more controls than you think.
State of Privacy shows how widely advertising tools spread across the web. Knowing the controls is how you push back on a system designed to follow you by default.
What to do next
Keep it practical: take one action, save proof, and avoid giving more data than the task needs.
Keep it practical: take one action, save proof, and avoid giving more data than the task needs.
Keep it practical: take one action, save proof, and avoid giving more data than the task needs.
People also ask
Can I stop ads completely?
Not entirely, but you can strongly reduce personalisation by changing ad settings and blocking trackers.
What is an advertising ID?
It is an identifier on your phone used to target and measure ads. You can reset or limit it in settings.
Do these settings reset?
They can after updates or new installs, so it is worth rechecking them periodically.
How many trackers run on your pages? Does your privacy policy name them? Can you answer a data-rights email? If you don't know, we can help you find out.
Talk to Meridian Bridge Strategy →Your personal data belongs to you. Under DPDP, every company must tell you what they have and delete it if you ask. One email is all it takes.
Get the template email →We investigated 107 Indian company websites. The public report shows what we found.