Advertising on Facebook

Facebook Ads are designed to help advertisers show people ads they find interesting and relevant.

How Advertising on Facebook Works
Businesses pay Facebook to show ads to people who might be interested in their message. Here’s an example:
  • 1
    A business creates an ad
    Let’s say a gym opens in your neighborhood. The owner creates an ad to get people to come in for a free workout.
  • 2
    Facebook gets paid to show the ad
    The owner sends the ad to Facebook and describes who should see it: people who live nearby and like running.
  • 3
    The right people see the ad
    You’ll see the ad if you live in town and like to run.
The ads you see are selected for you based on the things you do on Facebook, such as liking a Page or commenting on a story, and the information you share, such as your current city or birthday. Ads can also be selected for you based on information that you share with advertisers or because of how you use their websites and apps.
How You Can Control Ads
Check out the Top Questions to learn how you can control the ads you see on Facebook and how you appear in social information on ads that others see.
Top Questions
Here are more details about advertising on Facebook:
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How does Facebook decide which ads I’ll find relevant?

As much as possible, we want the ads you see on Facebook to be tailored to your interests. Ads may be selected for you based on information you share on Facebook such as Pages you like and other information such as your age and gender. Advertisers and their marketing partners can also reach you using information they already have, such as how you use their websites and apps.
In general, ads on Facebook are selected for you based on:
  • Your activity on Facebook. We may use the things you do and share on Facebook, such as status updates, Page likes, or the games you play, to show more relevant ads to you. For example, this lets us allow a game to send you an ad promoting a sequel when you have liked the game’s Facebook Page or have connected to it using Facebook. We also use the information you provide at registration or that you add to your Timeline, such as your gender, relationship status or birthday, to pick the most relevant ads for you.
    Sometimes we allow advertisers to target a category of people, like a moviegoer or a sci-fi fan. We do this by bundling characteristics that we believe are related to the category. For example, if a person likes the Star Trek Page and mentions Star Wars when she checks into a movie theater, we may conclude that she is likely to be a sci-fi fan. Advertisers of sci-fi movies could ask to show their ads to sci-fi fans.
  • Information received from advertisers and third parties. Our advertisers and their marketing partners may also decide to reach you with ads using information from third parties, or by working with companies that help advertisers reach people with relevant online ads.
    Advertisers can use different types of information to show you relevant ads on Facebook. Here are some examples:
    • Information you’ve shared with advertisers. Facebook lets advertisers and their partners show ads to people using information the advertisers already have. For example, a hardware store might want to show an ad about a sale to people who have signed up for its home improvement newsletter. The hardware store works with a third-party marketing partner to show ads across the web to its customers, including on Facebook. All ads are chosen for you in a way that protects your privacy. The advertiser (in this example, the hardware store) doesn’t receive any personally identifying information about the people who see their ad.
    • Information from partners. Advertisers work with marketing partners to reach existing or potential customers. For example, if you regularly shop at a grocery store and use a rewards card, that grocery store understands some of your shopping habits. If the grocery store has a sale coming up on orange juice, it may work with a marketing partner to show an ad on Facebook to all of its customers who buy orange juice.
      Facebook may work with companies that help advertisers reach people with relevant ads based on websites they’ve visited. For example, you may enjoy shopping on a certain shoe store’s website. The shoe store might want to show an ad on Facebook about a sale it’s having to people who have visited its website. To do this, the store can work with third parties to show its ad to people who have recently visited its website.
      Learn more about these partners and the choices they offer
    • Websites you’ve visited and applications that you’ve used. One of the ways that a company can reach you is to ask Facebook to show you ads that are customized based on what you do on that company’s websites and apps off Facebook. For example, Facebook may show you ads, on and off Facebook, announcing the release of a new album by your favorite band after you visit that band’s website.
Our Data Use Policy explains how Facebook uses all of the information we receive to help advertisers select the right audience for their ads. This includes information such as your location, demographics, likes, keywords, and any other information we receive or can tell about you and other users. For example, an advertiser can choose to target 18 to 35 year-old women who live in the United States and like basketball. Try creating an ad for yourself to see one of the ways advertisers choose their audience and what information they see.

What types of ads will Facebook show me?

Here are some of the most common ads shown on Facebook:
  • Relevant Ads A business creates an ad and pays Facebook to show it to the people who are most likely to find it relevant. For example, you might see an ad for a local gym if you live nearby, are a certain age, and like running. Ads may link to websites, Facebook Pages, apps or events. These ads may appear on the right column or in News Feed.
    These ads sometimes show an advertiser’s message alongside actions you and your friends have taken on Facebook, such as liking a Page. For example, an ad for a sushi restaurant may include information that a friend likes that restaurant’s Facebook Page. We pair ads and friends to provide an easy way to find products and services you’re interested in, based on what your friends share and like. Check out the Top Question for more information about the controls you have over how your actions on Facebook are paired with social ads.
  • Sponsored Stories Many of the things you do on Facebook (such as liking a Page) are posted to your Timeline and shared in News Feed. But there’s way too much activity for everything to show in News Feed. That’s why we let advertisers sponsor activity that’s relevant to their businesses to make sure more of the people you’ve shared with see the activity. For example, if you like a restaurant’s Facebook Page, that restaurant may pay to sponsor it so that it appears in more of your friends’ News Feeds.
    If an advertiser sponsors activity, that activity may appear in the same place as other ads. Importantly, when something is sponsored, nothing changes about its privacy and only the people who could originally see the activity can see it as an ad. No personal information about you or your friends is shared with the advertiser.

How can I control how my actions on Facebook are paired with social ads?

Facebook displays ads with social information by pairing actions that you have taken on Facebook, such as liking a Page, alongside an advertiser’s message. The people who see ads paired with an action you’ve taken are the same people you already shared the original action with, up to a maximum of your friends. For example, if you let your friends see when you’ve liked a Page, your friends might see the fact that you liked the Page on an ad for the Page.
You can control how your actions on Facebook are paired with ads by visiting your Privacy Settings.

How can I impact the ads that I see?

There are a few ways to influence the ads you see on Facebook:
  • Engage with ads that you like. Click on ads that you find interesting to see more like them. You can also like Pages and add more interests to your Timeline to see ads that are more relevant to you.
  • Give us your feedback. When you see an ad from a company that doesn’t interest you, give feedback by clicking the “x” or similar control in the upper right corner of the ad. We’ll use your responses to show you different ads that may be more relevant.
  • Control ads targeted by third-party information. Our advertisers and marketing partners may use their own information to help show you relevant ads. Learn more about third-party providers and the choices they offer you.
  • Opt out of ads that are selected for you by Facebook based on what you do on a particular company’s websites and apps off Facebook.
  • Companies other than Facebook may use information that they have collected about you to decide to show you ads, on or off Facebook. You can opt-out of receiving personalized ads from those third-party advertisers and ad networks who follow the Digital Advertising Alliances’ Self-Regulatory Principles for Online Behavioral Advertising by visiting the DAA website: Canada, Europe, or other locations.

What information does Facebook share with advertisers?

Facebook provides advertisers and their partners with information about the performance of their ads, such as how many people viewed or clicked on ads and demographic information about the types of people who viewed an ad. This helps advertisers and their partners understand and measure the effectiveness of their ads, which helps them and us show better, more interesting ads to people. We don’t share personally identifiable information about who specifically saw or clicked on ads with advertisers without your permission.
Get more details about what information advertisers receive and how they’re allowed to use that information in Facebook’s Advertising Guidelines.

Does Facebook share personally identifiable information with advertisers?

Facebook doesn’t share personally identifiable information such as your name or contact information with advertisers without your permission. Advertisers get reports on how their ads are performing, such as how many people viewed or clicked on their ads. Get more details about what information advertisers receive and how they’re allowed to use that information in Facebook’s Advertising Guidelines.

How do Facebook and others use cookies in connection with showing ads?

Facebook and other companies use technologies like cookies, pixel tags and local storage to show ads that are relevant to you. For example, a cookie can help an advertiser understand if the sale of a product on its website is connected to an ad on Facebook.
Read the latest information about these technologies and how they’re used.

Can I see Facebook ads on other websites?

Yes. We may show ads, including ads with social information, on other websites. These work just like the ads shown on Facebook.
Are you a business owner? Visit Facebook for Business to learn how Facebook Ads can help you.