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wired.comGoogle Ad-Tech Users Can Target National Security ‘Decision Makers’ and People With Chronic DiseasesGoogle enables marketers to target people with serious illnesses and crushing debt—against its policies—as well as the makers of classified defense technology, a WIRED investigation has found.

Display & Video 360 (DV360), one of the dominant marketing platforms offered by Google, is offering companies globally the option of targeting devices in the United States based on lists of internet users believed to suffer from chronic illnesses and financial distress.

First reviewed by WIRED, an internal spreadsheet obtained from a US-based data broker shows the DV360 platform currently hosting hundreds if not thousands of restricted or otherwise sensitive “audience segments.”

20/2/25, 1:05 pm16 reposts55 likes

Katie Straka

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The data—first obtained by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL), reveals segments targeting hundreds of millions of device users based exclusively on health conditions, from chronic pain and menopause to, among others, fibromyalgia, psoriasis, arthritis, high cholesterol, and hypertension.

“As with other demand-side platforms, advertisers are able to upload audience lists to Display & Video 360, based either on their own first-party data or from segment providers,” says Erica Walsh, a Google spokesperson.

Despite this, many data segments targeted households and businesses facing financial hardship, helping advertisers identify people who are in the process of bankruptcy or burdened by long-term debt.