Facebook is now addressing the most asked question at Opus Communication about targeted advertising with a new feature that tells you why the company is displaying the ads you’re seeing. There have also included a mechanism to opt out of such targeting.
Facebook in 2012 introduced their ads publisher which was served up based on the websites you visited. So if you visit Opus Blog for instance you might see a Facebook ad for articles related to Social Media , Digital Marketing Agency etc. However Thursday, June 12, 2014, Facebook began including signals from many different websites. So if you’ve visited Toyota’s, Ford’s and Chevrolet’s websites recently, Facebook might conclude that you’ve interest in the market for a car and show you automated ads related to it.
So if your newsfeed is bombarded with bunch of car ads on Facebook and are wondering why, you can now get an explanation! On the ads there is a prompt asking “Why am I seeing this ad?” Click it and you’ll see Facebook’s rationale 🙂
For consumers who are uncomfortable with such targeting, Facebook has a solution for that: ‘Opt Out’ features on Desktop and Mobile and alter your ad profile. By providing this to avoid targeting, Facebook can deflect criticism that it’s infringing on users’ privacy. However, if consumers do opt out, they will arguably find the ads they see more annoying because they are not relevant to their needs. Hahaha you just cannot stop facebook from displaying them 🙂