How Ads Work on Facebook
Making ads better and giving you more control on Facebook
Making ads better and giving you more control on Facebook
If you’re in the European Region
, your ad choices are different. Learn more about your ad choices
.
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.
Meta 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 Meta 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
. 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. Your Ad preferences page lets you manage your ad experience on Facebook. For example, if you’re not interested in electronics, you can choose to “see less”
ads about electronics in the Ad topics setting in your ad preferences. You can also control the information we use to show you ads in your Activity information from ad partners setting
which is available in Ad settings from your Ad preferences.
You can also access your ad preferences from the “Why am I seeing this ad?”
tool from every ad on Facebook. Learn more about why you are seeing an ad here
.
To learn more, visit About Facebook Ads
or read our Cookies Policy
.
How does Facebook decide which ads to show me?
How does Facebook decide which ads to show me?
If you’re in the European Region
, your ad choices are different. Learn more about your ad choices
.
The ads you see depend on a number of factors.
Follow these steps to learn more details about why our ad delivery system showed you a specific ad:
1.
Tap 
in the top right of the ad.
in the top right of the ad.2.
Tap "Why am I seeing this ad?"
. You'll see some of the factors we think may have influenced why our ads delivery system showed you this ad. For example, you visited the advertiser's website or topics our system may have prioritized for you based on your activity.
3.
If available, tap 
next to the reason why you're seeing an ad to view more information.
next to the reason why you're seeing an ad to view more information.How machine learning helps us provide insight into why you saw an ad
We use machine learning models
that mirror our ads delivery models to provide the insights found in “Why am I seeing this ad?”
. These models create and surface how certain activity both on and off Meta technologies contributed to Facebook showing you a particular ad.
For example, liking a post, clicking on an ad, or activity on websites, apps and products sent to us from advertisers. Meta’s use of your activity off Meta technologies depends on your ad settings. While these insights don’t represent all the factors contributing to delivering an ad, we use them to provide you with an informative and understandable view into some of the factors that contributed to why you saw an ad.
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 could use to decide which ads to show you:
Your activity on Facebook (such as liking a Page or clicking on ads you see). If you have linked your Facebook and Instagram accounts, your activity on Instagram may also affect your ads on Facebook.
Content you create or interact with across Facebook and Instagram.
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.
Additional policies are in place for ads shown to teens. You can learn more from the help center article
.
Your activity on websites and apps off of Facebook. Learn more about how to turn this off
in your ad settings
.
Note:
"Why am I seeing this ad?"
provides an explanation of some of the activity we think may have influenced why our ads delivery system showed you this ad.
Learn more about your activity by visiting Access your information
to see and manage your Facebook information or learn how to download your Facebook information for review.
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 Meta receives and how we use it, visit our Privacy Policy
and Cookies Policy
.
We use information you provide us, actions you've taken on our platforms and if applicable, actions you've taken on other websites, apps or in stores that those businesses or organizations have shared.
We do not use information with special protections, you choose to provide, to show you ads.
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 activity information from ad partners setting
. You can choose whether we use information based on your activity on websites or apps off Meta technologies for the purpose of showing you ads in your ad 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
.
You can also manage your ad preferences in Accounts Center
.
Does Facebook receive cookie information when I visit a site with the Like button?
Does Facebook receive cookie information when I visit a site with the Like button?
If you have Facebook cookies stored on your device, your device will send us information about these cookies when you visit a site that uses a Facebook Product social plugin, such as the "Like" button.
Learn more about what cookies are and how Facebook uses them
.
How does Meta work with data providers
How does Meta work with data providers
This page used to contain a list of the third-party data providers that Meta worked with to offer their targeting segments directly on Facebook, and a description of that program. After we last updated our Privacy Policy, we terminated this program. Meta 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
. You can also learn more about why you are seeing an ad here
.
How Facebook decides which ads to show teens
How Facebook decides which ads to show teens
We want to make sure everyone who uses Facebook sees ads that are appropriate and useful to them. All ads on our platforms must follow our Community Standards
and Advertising Standards
.
We have additional policies in place for ads shown to teens (people under 18 years old globally, under 20 in Thailand, and under 21 in Indonesia). For example, our Advertising Standards
prohibit ads about restricted topics, like alcohol, financial products and weight loss products
and services, to be shown to people under 18 (and older in certain countries).
Additionally, we limit the options advertisers can use to show ads to teens. For example, we don’t allow advertisers to select interests, behaviors, gender or activity on other apps and websites when choosing to show their ads to teens. Advertisers can decide to include teens in their audience based only on age and location.
In contrast, advertisers have more options for showing ads to adults who use our products. For example, an advertiser could choose to show their ads to people with certain interests or based on information
that they, or other partners, share with us. This could include the products someone is interested in, websites they visited or Pages they interacted with on Facebook. Since advertisers have more options when reaching adults, these audiences will have additional Ad preferences
to manage their personalized ads experience.
For all account holders, no matter what your age, your use of Facebook is governed by our Terms of Service
.
