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.

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.

Facebook 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 Facebook 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. Learn more about online interest-based advertising from Facebook. 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.

People also tell us they want more control over the ads they see. That’s why we’re introducing ad preferences, a new tool accessible from every ad on Facebook that explains why you’re seeing a specific ad and lets you add and remove preferences that we use to show you ads. So if you’re not interested in electronics, you can remove electronics from your ad preferences.

View and adjust your ad preferences here.

To learn more, visit About Facebook Ads or read our Cookies policy.

We want the ads you see on Facebook to be as interesting and useful to you as possible. To decide which ads to show you, we use:

For more information on the information Facebook receives and how we use it, visit our Data Policy and Cookies Policy.

You have several ways to control which ads we show you:

For more information about ads on Facebook:

Your profile picture or name may be paired with an ad to show your activity on Facebook (ex: if you follow the Starbucks Page). Keep in mind that your name and profile picture will only appear to the people who have permission to view your Page likes.

Note: 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.

Learn more about ads and privacy as well as how advertising works on Facebook.

This page used to contain a list of the third-party data providers that Facebook worked with to offer their targeting segments directly on Facebook, and a description of that program. After we last updated our Data Policy (in April 2018), we terminated this program. Facebook 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.

To show you better ads, we use data that advertisers and other partners provide us about your activity off Facebook Company Products. We offer several ways to control the ads you see based on your activity off of Facebook.

Our ads based on data from partners setting in your ads preferences can give you more control over this activity. It controls whether we show you ads based on your use of websites and apps off Facebook Company Products, and it also controls ads based on data we receive from partners about your offline activity. You can review these choices at any time.

To view your ad settings on based on data from partners:

Note: 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.

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 are a way to learn why you’re seeing a particular ad, and control how we use information about you on and off Facebook to decide which ads to show you.

To view and adjust your ad preferences:

You’ll see an explanation of why you’re seeing the ad, and you can add or remove yourself from audiences who are shown that ad. Click Manage your ad preferences to see more audiences you’re a part of that influence which ads you see on Facebook. You can also view and adjust your ad preferences here.

Changing your ad preferences influences which ads you see, but it won’t change the total number of ads you see. Keep in mind that advertisers sometimes ask Facebook to show similar ads to multiple audiences, or to wide audiences. For example, a company might want to reach people who like sports. If you remove yourself from the audience of people who like football, but not from the audience of people who like basketball, you could still see the company’s ad.

Learn more about how Facebook decides which ads to show you and how to give feedback on the ads you see.

Note: Facebook always uses information about your age, gender, location and the devices you use to access Facebook when deciding 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:

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.