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.
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.
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. Click more in the top right of the ad.
  2. Click "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, click 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.
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 or like the Starbucks Page).

Change who can see your social actions with Facebook ads
  1. Visit your Ad Preferences and click Ad Settings.
  2. Click Social Interactions.
  3. Below Who can see your social interactions alongside ads? you can select Friends or Only me.
Keep in mind:
  • This setting applies to your likes, follows, comments, shares, app usage, check-ins, recommendations, and events you joined that appear with ads your friends see.
  • 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.
  • If you’re under 18, your social actions are not shown alongside ads. Changing who can see your social actions will not have an effect until you’re 18 years old.
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 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.
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.
You must be logged into Facebook to access your Ad settings.
To show you more relevant ads, we receive and use information that advertisers and other partners provide to us about your activity on their websites and apps, as well as some of your offline interactions, such as purchases. For example, we may show you an ad for a shirt based on your visit to a clothing website.
You can choose whether we use this information to show you ads by adjusting your Activity information from ad partners setting in your Ad settings.
Adjust what ads are shown to you based on your Activity information from ad partners
To view and adjust this setting in Accounts Center:
  1. Click your profile picture in the top right of Facebook.
  2. Select Settings & privacy, then click Settings.
  3. Click Accounts Center, then click Ad preferences.
  4. Click Ad settings.
  5. Click Activity information from ad partners.
  6. Click Review setting.
  7. Choose whether we can show you ads based on your activity information from ad partners.
Note: Not everyone will be able to access this setting in Accounts Center at this time. If these steps don't work for you, try this:
  1. Click your profile picture in the top right of Facebook.
  2. Select Settings & privacy, then click Settings.
  3. Scroll down and click Ads in the left menu.
  4. Click Ad settings, then click Activity information from ad partners.
  5. Select whether we can use information from our ad partners to show you ads.
Learn more about why you may be seeing a particular ad.
Note: You will only be asked to confirm your choice if you make a change to your Activity information from ad partners setting.
Activity information from ad partners
This setting controls whether we can show you relevant ads on Facebook based on information about your Activity information from ad partners. If you turn off this setting, the ads you see may still be based on your activity on our platform. They may also be based on information from a specific business that has shared a list of individuals or devices with us, if we've matched your profile to information on that list.
The choice you make in your Activity information from ad partners setting will apply to all of your accounts in the same Accounts Center.
Note: You may have different ad experiences across your accounts if they aren’t added to the same Accounts Center. Learn more about settings you can manage across your accounts in Accounts Center.
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.
Learn more about your ad preferences on Facebook.
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 lets you adjust the ads you see while on Facebook and gives you the ability to update your Ad settings to control information we can use to show you ads.
View and adjust your Ad preferences:
  1. Click your profile picture in the top right of Facebook.
  2. Select Settings & privacy, then click Settings.
  3. Click Accounts Center, then click Ad preferences.
Note: Not everyone will be able to access this setting in Accounts Center at this time. If these steps don't work for you, try this:
  1. Click your profile picture in the top right of Facebook.
  2. Select Settings & privacy, then click Settings.
  3. Click Ads in the left menu.
From here, you can view the advertisers you’ve most recently seen ads from, and you can choose to see fewer ads about selected topics. You can also review your Ad settings and choose whether we can show you personalized ads based on your Activity information from ad partners.
Note: Changing your ad preferences influences which ads you see, but it won’t change the total number of ads you see.
Advertisers
The Advertisers section of Ad preferences lets you see the advertisers we’ve shown you ads from most recently, as well as advertisers whose ads you’ve clicked on while on Facebook.
These are advertisers we think will be most interesting and relevant to you based on your activity on and off Facebook. You can choose to hide ads from these advertisers and view which advertisers you’ve already hidden.
Hide ads from an advertiser
  1. Click your profile picture in the top right of Facebook.
  2. Select Settings & privacy, then click Settings.
  3. Click Accounts Center, then click Ad preferences.
  4. Click Advertisers you've seen.
  5. Below Advertisers You’ve Seen Most Recently, you’ll see a list of advertisers. Click Hide Ads for any advertisers you’d like to not see ads from.
Note: Not everyone will be able to access this setting in Accounts Center at this time. If these steps don't work for you, try this:
  1. Visit your Ad preferences page, then click Advertisers.
  2. Below Advertisers You’ve Seen Most Recently, you’ll see a list of advertisers. Click Hide Ads for any advertisers you’d like to not see ads from.
Learn more about why you see ads from certain advertisers.
Ad topics
Ad topics is a list of topics you can choose to see less of while on Facebook and Instagram. These include ad topics such as alcohol, parenting, pets and social issues, elections or politics. Please note, the social issues, elections or politics topic preference is not available in every country.
Adjust your Ad topic preferences:
  1. Click on your profile picture in the top right, then click Settings and privacy.
  2. Click Settings.
  3. Click Accounts Center, then click Ad preferences.
  4. Click Ad topics. Under Ad topics advertisers can use to reach you, you’ll see topics that represent interest categories advertisers can use to reach you. We add you to these categories based on your activity.
  5. To see less of an ad topic, click the topic you want to see less of and then select See Less.
On the Ad topics page, you’ll now see this topic under Your ad topic choices. You can change your preference at any time by selecting a topic and choosing No preference.
You can also browse all ad topics and choose to see less of the ones you aren’t interested in by using the search bar at the top of the Ad topics page.
Note:
  • If you have linked your Facebook and Instagram accounts, your ad topic preference selections will apply across both accounts. If you have not linked your accounts, you can learn how to update your ad topic preferences for the ads you see on Instagram.
  • If you choose to see less of an ad topic, you won’t get as many ads about that topic, and advertisers can’t target you based on an interest in it. You may still see some ads related to these topics even if you chose to see less of them. If you do see an ad related to a topic that you chose to see fewer of, you can hide the ad, and we’ll use your feedback to improve the relevance of the ads you see.
  • If you add accounts to the same Accounts Center (for example, your Facebook and Instagram accounts), we’ll adjust this setting to match across your accounts. For ad topics you’ve selected to See less of, we’ve applied that preference to all accounts in the same Accounts Center.
Please note, all advertisers are subject to our ad policies. Ads that promote or reference restricted content categories must comply with all applicable local laws, required or established industry codes, guidelines, licenses and approvals, and include age and country targeting criteria consistent with Facebook's targeting guidelines and applicable local laws.
Ad Settings
Your Ad preferences page also let you see how we’re using information to show ads we think will be most interesting for you and let you adjust how this information can be used to show you ads. Under Ad settings, you can:
  • View common questions about how information is used to show you ads on Facebook.
  • Choose whether or not we can show you personalized ads based on your activity on other websites, apps or offline.
  • Review what information advertisers can use to reach you, such as certain Facebook Profile information and other categories, and choose whether this information can be used to show you ads.
  • View advertisers that can choose to show their ads to certain audiences you have been included in based on your activity or information and decide whether these audiences can be used to show you ads.
  • Choose how advertisers can reach you off of Meta Company Products.
  • Adjust who can see your social interactions alongside ads on Facebook.
Learn more about how Facebook decides which ads to show you.
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.
  • Answer, “Was this information useful?” if an explanation is confusing when using the “Why am I seeing this ad?" tool.
  • 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.
  • Update your Activity information from ad partners in your ad preferences. Learn more about how to adjust how ads are shown to you based on your activity on and off Meta technologies.
  • Review and manage the information businesses and organizations share with us about your activity on websites or apps off Meta technologies, in your Activity off Meta technologies setting. 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.
  • Report an ad. 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.