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.
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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 you like. 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’re introducing ad preferences, a new 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.
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We want the ads you see on Facebook to be as interesting and useful to you as possible. To decide which ads to show you, we use:
  • Information you share on Facebook (ex: Pages you like)
  • Other information about you from your Facebook account (ex: your age, your gender, your location, the devices you use to access Facebook)
  • Information advertisers and our marketing partners share with us that they already have, like your email address
  • Your activity on websites and apps off of Facebook
For more information on the information Facebook receives and how we use it, visit our Data Policy and Cookies Policy.
You have several ways to control which ads we show you:
  • Adjust your ad preferences. Click or near the top-right corner of any ad on Facebook, and select Why am I seeing this? You’ll see an explanation of why you’re seeing the ad, and you can choose to hide all ads from that advertiser. Select Manage your ad preferences to see more audiences you’re a part of that influence which ads you see on Facebook, and adjust which audiences you're a part of. You can also view and adjust your ad preferences here.
  • Use interest-based advertising controls. 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 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 US, the Digital Advertising Alliance of Canada in Canada or the European Digital Advertising Alliance in Europe, or opt out using your mobile device settings.
For more information about ads on Facebook:
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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 (ex: if you follow the Starbucks Page). Keep in mind that your name and profile picture will only appear to the people who have permission to view your Page likes.
Note: 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.
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Facebook works with a select group of third-party data providers to help businesses connect with people who might be interested in their products or services. We've designed these partnerships with people's privacy in mind. People using our services have control over the ads they see.
Many businesses today work with third parties like Acxiom, Datalogix (Oracle Data Cloud), Epsilon, Experian and Quantium 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 in the market for 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. The third-party partner provides Facebook with information that helps Facebook connect those customers with the offers.
We've set up these partnerships in a way that enables people to control how they are included in audiences we create based on information provided by a data provider. Specifically, we offer people:
Transparency. When you see a Facebook ad, you can click the dropdown menu and then choose "Why am I seeing this?" This will bring you to a page that identifies some of the reasons why you’re seeing the ad -- including whether you are part of an audience that was provided to Facebook by our partners.
Enhanced Disclosures. Our data providers have agreed to explain what types of information they collect and what their policies are relating to the sharing of that information. Many of our partners have developed tools that help people see information that the partner has associated with them, and to exercise control over that data. For example, Acxiom has launched a public tool called aboutthedata.com.
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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.
We offer multiple ways to control the ads you see based on your activity off of Facebook.
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 ad settings. Learn more about online interest-based advertising from Facebook and see our Data Policy for more information about our data practices.
If you're a registered Facebook user, the choice you make on your browser or device will apply across your devices. If you're not a registered Facebook user, you'll need to make this choice on each browser or device you use.
From your browser
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.
From your device
On your iPhone, iPad or Android, you can change your device settings to control whether you see online interest-based ads from Facebook and other companies.
On your iPhone or iPad:
  1. Go to Settings
  2. Tap Privacy
  3. Tap Advertising and turn on Limit Ad Tracking
On your Android (versions 2.2 and up) and Google Play Services (versions 4.0 and up):
  1. Go to Google Settings
  2. Tap Ads
  3. Tap Opt out of interest-based ads and tap OK
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Your ad preferences are a way to learn why you’re seeing a particular ad, and control how we use information about you on and off Facebook to decide which ads to show you.
To view and adjust your ad preferences:
  1. Click the or near the top-right corner of any ad on Facebook
  2. Select Why am I seeing this?
You’ll see an explanation of why you’re seeing the ad, and you can add or remove yourself from audiences who are shown that ad. Click Manage your ad preferences to see more audiences you’re a part of that influence which ads you see on Facebook. You can also view and adjust your ad preferences here.
Changing your ad preferences influences which ads you see, but it won’t change the total number of ads you see. 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 yourself from the audience of people who like football, but not from the audience of people who like basketball, you could still see the company’s ad.
Learn more about how Facebook decides which ads to show you and how to give feedback on the ads you see.
Note: Facebook always uses information about your age, gender, location and the devices you use to access Facebook when deciding which ads to show you.
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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 (ex: movies, bands, sports teams) will help us show you more relevant ads.
  • Tell us when you see an ad you like. Click the or near the top-right corner of any ad on Facebook, and then select This ad is useful. We’ll do our best to show you more ads like that one in the future.
  • Hide ads you don’t like. Click the or in the top right corner 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.
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