You can now automatically set your Google history to be deleted

Google announced today that users can now automatically schedule Google browser history to be deleted on a 3-month or 18-month schedule. The option allows users to “set it and forget it” to avoid having to manually login to Google preferences and delete history.

How it works. Login to your Google account and go to the activity controls panel. Then, click on the “choose to delete automatically” button and schedule if you’d like to delete your history automatically on a 3- or 18-month cycle.

Below is a GIF of it in action:

Why don’t I see this option? The setting is still rolling out and will only be available for location history and web and app activity for now. Google said the controls “are coming first to Location History and Web & App Activity and will roll out in the coming weeks.”

Why should we care. As marketers, this may impact our ad targeting within Google Ads. It’s unclear how much of an impact it might have on targeting, but we hope to explore the new control in more detail in the future. It shouldn’t impact organic search rankings much, as Google has told us that personalization is very limited in terms of how it impacts the core rankings.

As searchers – especially those who are concerned about privacy – the ability to automate deleting history is a big win. Users can now schedule history to be deleted without having to worry about accessing the history panel every few months to manually erase history. Of course, users can always delete history manually, if preferred.

About The Author

Barry Schwartz

Barry Schwartz a Contributing Editor to Search Engine Land and a member of the programming team for SMX events. He owns RustyBrick, a NY based web consulting firm. He also runs Search Engine Roundtable, a popular search blog on very advanced SEM topics. Barry's personal blog is named Cartoon Barry and he can be followed on Twitter here.