What's an Android advertising ID & how and why to reset it?

What's an advertising ID and what does it bring to your life as an Android user? In short, app developers and Google's ad network use your ad ID to recognize your device in the vast ocean of Android gadgets, then generously serve it targeted ads for stuff you may or may not actually care about. Based on the advertising ID, devs and Google can make anonymous user profiles that contain info for targeted advertising, collected during your search activities. It's the price you pay for relying on Google to find stuff. Only apps downloaded from Google Play get to use this feature, and where in-app advertising is concerned, it's the only persistent identifier on your system that can be used.

Now that you have a brief understanding of the advertising ID, here's what you can do with it. You can't turn it off, but as an Android user, you have the ability to reset your ID at will. This will cause Google's system to build your profile anew, thus advertisers won't be able to link your past actions on the web to your device. How is this useful? Well, imagine you've spent a few hours searching online for stuff you absolutely don't want advertised to you for some reason. Then you open your favorite ad-supported app, and you get the unwanted content thrown at you, because you expressed indirect interest in it! While clearing your search history won't cut it in this situation, resetting your advertising ID should. Here's the very simple procedure of doing this: