• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, November 1, 2011

Trust could become the biggest factor separating Google from Facebook as the companies continue to build out services. While both continue to fight battles around consumer privacy issues, Google's move toward explaining the nuances of ad targeting could set it apart as a more mature and transparent company in 2012.

On Monday, Google unveiled an initiative to further educate consumers and remove the creepy factor about targeted ads. The feature -- dubbed Why these ads? -- allows searchers to discover why certain paid-search advertisements serve up in Gmail, on Google search pages, and across other free Google services supported by ads.

The more information Google can gather, the better ad match the company can serve up for those searching the Web, Susan Wojcicki, SVP of advertising at Google, explains in a blog post. The company has been touting that same message for years, but now it offers tools like Ad Preference Manager that allow searchers to block any advertiser on Google they believe is inappropriate or simply annoying.

Better ad matches also seem to require fewer ads to complete a conversion. Theoretically, clicks and conversion rates rise along with return on investment, according to Kenshoo CMO Aaron Goldman.

In theory, "less waste," or irrelevant ads, means that Rob Griffin, EVP, global director of product development at Havas Digital, can afford to pay more for the important ads to better support the brands he represents.

I agree.

In October, Google made a change it said will protect the privacy of searchers. It will only share search data with companies that pay for paid-search services. Search results continue to become more personal. So by default, the company will encrypt the search sessions of those signed in to google.com, which protects the results being sent back to the searcher. One side note to that theory -- browsers send along referrer data to third-party companies when someone skips from one secure Web site to another unsecure site. Now Google has blocked referrer data from organic search results.

Google engineers, similar to other companies, continue to learn the nuances found on the Web. Even 10- to-15-year-old Web companies remain in their infancy when considering the speed with which technology changes.

It turns out that overall missteps when it comes to protecting consumer privacy and data in Google Buzz and Street View, among other applications, could benefit the Mountain View, Calif. company in the long term through platforms like Dashboard, Web History, Encrypted Search, Ad Preferences, and more.