Surely every single user of the Internet has wondered why this particular advertisement is now being displayed to him or her. Whether it’s cosmetics, food or a new car – sometimes you just don’t feel addressed by the advertising and have the feeling that something must have gone wrong. But some people like to go exactly the other way around and the advertising, which is perfectly tailored to their own interests, seems a bit scary.

Facebook wants to take the transparency of its Facebook ads a big step further, so that such questions can soon be answered with just a few clicks. Every Facebook ad has the function “Why do I see this ad”, which you can click on for more information. This is nothing new, but so far this tool has only hidden very general information about one’s membership of a demographic group. And if you are female and over 25 years old or male and over 50, you usually know that yourself. With the new tools, you can find out much more precisely why you were selected as a potential customer when targeting a certain company.

At a glance: The new tools for more transparency of Facebook ads

1. If you click on the question “Why do I see this ad”, you will continue to receive information about which demographic group the company wants to reach. It’s all about gender and age.
2. Sometimes the place of residence is also decisive for the Facebook ads you receive. This is also disclosed here by Facebook.
3. In addition, you can now also see whether you have ever visited or clicked on the company’s website and therefore received its advertising.
4. The interests that can be declared on Facebook are now also disclosed as possible reasons for advertising. If, for example, you have indicated cosmetics as an interest and therefore receive advertising for a new makeup product, you can see this in the new tool.
5. What is particularly interesting is that you not only receive this new information from Facebook, but can also react immediately. If you want to click on and change the corresponding settings. If for example, you are annoyed about the makeup product and Facebook then draws your attention to the fact that years ago you indicated that you were interested in cosmetics, you can change this setting with just a few clicks. But you can also switch off the possibility for companies to pass on their data to Facebook. Because that you were on a certain website and Facebook now uses this information for Facebook Ads is only possible with your consent.
6. Finally, you can now see which companies have recently uploaded lists of user data that contain their own data. Facebook also explains what happened to this data and what it was used for.
7. Facebook: Is my data safe now?

The new tools with which Facebook makes Facebook ads more transparent are certainly a step in the right direction. But complete transparency is far from being achieved with these tools. Facebook’s main goal with these innovations is to limit damage, because recently the company’s reputation has suffered greatly and many Facebook users no longer feel secure. We are curious to see how data protection on Facebook will continue in the future and will of course keep you up to date.