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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.

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.

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.

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“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.

A vast number of devices and user profiles are spread out across lists that target users determined likely to need specific medications, including some controlled substances, such as Ambien.