Did you know the average American can be exposed to thousands of advertisements every day? Ads are only one type of marketing message you and your family routinely consume.

You won’t remember most of them. You might not even realize some things you see are at all. But if you understand how companies target you, and your kids, you can take more control over what you see.

Types of Your Family Sees

You’re familiar with some of the most common types of .

For example, you might see:

• online ads;
• television commercials;
• print ads;
• display ads (on a billboard or the side of a bus);
• promotional emails.

But there are many examples of you might be less familiar with.

For example, there are:

• advertorials and other native content;
• endorsements (which aren’t always properly disclosed, especially among online “influencers”);
• search engine listings;
• brand social media updates.

That’s just a very small sampling.

Why Your Family Sees Certain

Some you’re exposed to are things you actively seek out. For example, let’s say you need a lawyer to help you with estate planning. You might go to Google and search for “estate planning lawyers.”

Every listing you see in Google’s results is technically a marketing message – what’s called a meta description appears with the link and, when well-written, will have a call-to-action to entice you to click.

You see a list of legal websites because that’s what you wanted. And attorneys who rank high for that search got there either through SEO (search engine optimization) or SEM (search engine marketing, where they pay for placement above normal results).

That kind of marketing message isn’t bad. It’s marketers trying to give you what you literally asked for.

On the other hand, you might be less happy about your exposure to things like targeted advertising.

If you’ve ever searched for something and then suddenly you started seeing ads for that thing on a bunch of different websites, you have experience with something called “behavioral targeting.”

This is when advertisers or other marketers (or the platforms you use) track your online behavior to better understand what you’re looking for so they can serve ads they think you’re more likely to interact with.

For example, let’s say you’re pregnant.

You search online for pregnancy advice, and the next thing you know you’re being bombarded with ads for baby products everywhere you go.

Similar might happen if your kids search for information about video games. They might then be exposed to ads and other trying to get them (or you if you use the same devices and browsers) to buy those games.

How to Minimize Behavioral Tracking of Your Family

While this kind of advertising can be harmless and even occasionally helpful, it can also get annoying. Imagine having recently bought a new mattress, and thanks to your online research you still see ads for other mattresses for months.

While you can’t minimize your exposure to all kinds of —like what commercials your kids see if you let them watch live TV, or Google’s search results—you can cut down on things like behavioral tracking.

Here are three ways you can start doing that:

1. Change your primary search engine (or at least your kids’) to a privacy-focused one like Duck Duck Go. Unlike Google, it doesn’t store your search history or private information advertisers use to track you.
2. If you do use Google (or any Google products), review your privacy settings. Anything that says it will help “personalize” your experience relies on some form of user tracking. So, for example, you might want to disable “web & app activity” and your “location history.” Also turn off the “ad personalization” setting if you don’t want targeted ads following you around every time you search for something on Google.
3. Clear your browser’s “cookies.” The way companies like Google track your behavior is by storing a “cookie” file in your browser. Cookies are used for many things that aren’t harmful, like saving your login information on websites so you don’t have to type it in each time you visit. But they’re also used for behavioral targeting. So if you’re seeing those creepy “following you around” ads, consider clearing your cookies and starting fresh.

Not all are bad. But that doesn’t mean they’re all wanted either. If you want to protect yourself and your family from letting companies track your behavior on the web, these tips will give you a place to start.