About Facebook Ads
How Ads Work on Facebook
A business creates an ad. They choose the type of audience they’d like to reach. If you’re in that audience, Facebook shows you the ad.
When we ask people about our ads, one of the top things they tell us is that they want to see ads that relate to things they care about. We learn about this primarily from your activity on Facebook, such as Pages or posts you like and posts or comments you make. We also learn about your interests from some of the websites and apps you use. We call this online interest-based advertising, and many companies do this.
How does this work?
Let’s say that you’re thinking about buying a new TV, and you start researching TVs on the web and in mobile apps. Based on this activity, we may show you ads for deals on a TV to help you get the best price or other brands to consider. And because we think you’re interested in electronics, we may show you ads for other electronics in the future, like speakers or a game console to go with your new TV.
Facebook adheres to the framework established by the Digital Advertising Alliance, European Interactive Digital Advertising Alliance and Digital Advertising Alliance of Canada, a coalition of organizations that develops privacy standards for online advertising, so if you don’t want us to use the websites and apps you use to show you more relevant ads, we won’t. If you don’t want Facebook to use information based on your activity on websites or apps off Facebook for the purpose of showing you ads, you can opt out in your settings. Learn more about online interest-based advertising from Facebook. You can also opt out from all participating companies through the Digital Advertising Alliance in the USA, the Digital Advertising Alliance of Canada in Canada or the European Interactive Digital Advertising Alliance in Europe, or opt out using your mobile device settings.
How do I manage the ads I see?
People also tell us they want more control over the ads they see. That’s why we have ad preferences, a tool accessible from every ad on Facebook that explains why you’re seeing a specific ad and lets you add and remove preferences that we use to show you ads. So if you’re not interested in electronics, you can remove electronics from your ad preferences.
View and adjust your ad preferences here.
To learn more, visit About Facebook Ads or read our Cookies policy.
To see why we're showing you an ad:
- Click
in the top right corner of the ad.
- Click Why am I seeing this ad?. You'll see different reasons for why you're seeing the ad (example: you visited the advertiser's website).
- If available, click
next to the reason why you're seeing an ad to view more information.
How we decide which ads to show you:
We want the ads you see on Facebook to be as interesting and useful to you as possible. These are examples of things we use to decide which ads to show you:
- Your activity on Facebook (such as liking a Page or clicking on ads you see).
- Other information about you from your Facebook account (example: your age, your gender, your location, the devices you use to access Facebook).
- Information advertisers, their partners, and our marketing partners share with us that they already have, like your email address.
- If you agree, your activity on websites and apps off of Facebook. Learn more about how to turn this off in your ad settings.
- We don't share information that personally identifies you (information such as your name or email address that by itself can be used to contact you or identifies who you are) unless you give us permission. To learn more about the information Facebook receives and how we use it, visit our Data Policy and Cookies Policy.
- We use information you provide us, actions you've taken on our platforms and actions you've taken on other websites, apps or in stores that those third-party companies have shared, except for any personal information with special protections that you have added to your profile. Some examples of personal information with special protections include whether you’re interested in men or women, your religious views or your political views. These constitute special categories of personal data in the EU and Facebook does not use such data to select and personalise the ads that you see.
Learn more about how ads work on Facebook.
To adjust what ads you see:
If you're seeing ads that aren't interesting to you, you can:
- Adjust your ad preferences. Visit your ad preferences page, where you can manage things like your interests and your profile information to get a more personalized experience. Learn more about your ad preferences.
- Update your Ads based on data from partners setting. If you don’t want Facebook to use information based on your activity on websites or apps off Facebook for the purpose of showing you ads, you can adjust your settings.
- Hide ads from an advertiser. If you're seeing an advertiser that isn't interesting to you, you can hide an ad or hide an advertiser.
Your Information and Facebook Ads
Your ad preferences are based on information you've shared with Facebook, Pages you like or engage with, ads you click on, apps and websites you use, and information from our data providers and advertisers.
Your profile picture or name may be paired with an ad to show your activity on Facebook (example: if you follow the Starbucks Page).
Keep in mind:
- Your name and profile picture will only appear to the people who have permission to view your Page likes.
- It's against our advertising policies for advertisers to use your name directly in an ad. If you see an ad you think might be using your name in a different way, please report it.
Learn more about ads and privacy and how advertising works on Facebook.
This page used to contain a list of the third-party data providers that Facebook worked with to offer their targeting segments directly on Facebook, and a description of that program. After we last updated our Data Policy (in April 2018), we terminated this program. Facebook no longer works with third-party data providers to offer their targeting segments directly on Facebook.
Businesses may continue, on their own, to work with data providers. Many businesses today work with third parties to help manage and understand their marketing efforts. For example, an auto dealer may want to customize an offer to people who are likely to be interested in buying a new car. The dealer also might want to send offers, like discounts for service, to customers that have purchased a car from them. To do this, the auto dealer works with a third-party company to identify and reach those customers with the right offer.
So businesses who advertise to you may be using a list of people that they've gotten, or gotten the ability to use, from third parties that they work with for their marketing efforts. Businesses that advertise on Facebook are required to have any necessary rights and permissions to use this information, as outlined in our Custom Audience Terms that businesses must agree to.
You can learn more about what influences the ads you see and control your ads experience by visiting Ad Preferences.
Control the Ads You See
See more interesting and useful ads on Facebook by updating your ad preferences to reflect the things you care about. Managing your ad preferences is only possible in some areas right now.
Over the next few months, we're updating how www.facebook.com looks. Learn more about how to switch between New and Classic Facebook. Click below to go to the directions for the version you're using.
To show you better ads, we use data that advertisers and other partners provide us about your activity off Facebook Company Products. We offer several ways to control the ads you see based on your activity off of Facebook.
Our ads based on data from partners setting in your ads preferences can give you more control over this activity. It controls whether we show you ads based on your use of websites and apps off Facebook Company Products, and it also controls ads based on data we receive from partners about your offline activity. You can review these choices at any time.
To view your ad settings based on data from partners:
New Facebook
- Click
in the top right.
- Select Settings & Privacy > Settings.
- Click Ads in the left sidebar.
- Below Ad settings, click Ads based on data from partners and review your choice in this setting.
Classic Facebook
- Click
at the top right of Facebook and select Settings.
- Click Ads.
- Scroll down and click Ad settings.
- Click Ads based on data from partners and review your choice in this setting.
Note: We adhere to the Self-Regulatory Principles for Online Behavioral Advertising and participate in the opt-out programs established by the Digital Advertising Alliance, the Digital Advertising Alliance of Canada and the European Interactive Digital Advertising Alliance. You can opt out from all participating companies through these sites.
Keep in mind that there is no way to hide all ads. Learn more about how Facebook decides which ads to show you and how to give feedback on the ads you see.
Your Ad Preferences page is a place to review and update your ad settings so you can take more control over what information we use when deciding what ads to show you.
To view and adjust your ad preferences:
- Click
- Select Settings & Privacy > Settings.
- Click Ads in the left sidebar.
- From your Ad Preferences page, you can update your interests, choose what Facebook information we use to show you ads and adjust your general ad settings.
Changing your ad preferences influences which ads you see, but it won’t change the total number of ads you see. Also keep in mind that advertisers sometimes ask Facebook to show similar ads to multiple audiences, or to wide audiences. For example, a company might want to reach people who like sports. If you remove football from your interests from your ad preferences but keep basketball as an interest, you could still see the company’s ad.
There are a few ways to give us feedback about the ads you see on Facebook. Giving us feedback will impact which ads we show you in the future. To give us feedback:
- Tell us more about what you like. Liking Pages and adding things you like to your profile (example: movies, bands, sports teams) will help us show you more relevant ads.
- Hide ads you don’t like. Click the
or
on the top right of any ad, and then select Hide ad. We’ll do our best not to show you more ads like that one in the future.
- Adjust your ad preferences. To learn about the information Facebook is using to show you ads and choose which preferences influence the ads you see, adjust your ad preferences. Ad preferences are only available in some areas right now.
- Use interest-based advertising controls. If you don’t want Facebook to collect information based on your activity on websites or apps off Facebook for the purpose of showing you ads, you can opt out from your settings. Learn more about online interest-based advertising from Facebook. You can also opt out from all participating companies through the Digital Advertising Alliance in the USA, the Digital Advertising Alliance of Canada in Canada, or the European Interactive Digital Advertising Alliance in Europe, or opt out using your mobile device settings.
When you report an ad, it is subjected to our ad review system. That process relies on automated tools, and in some cases manual review, to check ads against our Advertising Policies. When we detect a violation of our policies, we will remove the ad. We continuously review ads on our platform based on many signals, including user feedback, to improve the integrity and relevance of advertising on Facebook.
