Facebook Pulls Back The Targeting Curtain & Gives Users More Control Over The Ads They See

Ever wonder why you keep getting that workout ad on Facebook?  Want to hide everything from that manufacturer?

Today, Facebook has announced a new policy and feature that will give users clarity (and choices) on the messages that they view.

Advertisers have flocked to Facebook Ads due to the massive amount of targeting options offered. In the next few weeks, each user will be able to see how and why they’ve been targeted, pulling back the curtain on why they are seeing each ad:

Users will have the option to respond to the ad with the following old choices:

• I don’t want to see this
• Hide all ads from this advertiser

… and also these two new choices:

• Why am I seeing this?
• This ad is useful

When clicking on the “Why am I seeing this?,” users will be taken to a page that shows the specific advertiser, the interest-based targeting and will even allow users to remove interests if they are no longer warranted.

This will be coming to U.S. users in the coming weeks. For more information, see the official Facebook release.