Meta, formaly Facebook, is launching a new iteration of its 'why am I seeing this ad?' tool.
Created nearly a decade ago to give people information about why they see certain ads across our technologies, the relaunch will provide more transparency about how online activity informs machine learning to shape and deliver ads.
Beginning today, the “Why am I seeing this ad?” tool on Facebook will include:
- Information summarized into topics about how your activity both on and off our technologies — such as liking a post on a friend’s Facebook page or interacting with your favorite sports website — may inform the machine learning models we use to shape and deliver the ads you see.
- New examples and illustrations explaining how our machine learning models connect various topics to show you relevant ads.
- More ways to find our ads controls. You will now be able to access Ads Preferences from additional pages in the “Why am I seeing this ad?” tool.
Pedro Pavón Meta's global policy director said: "We worked closely with external privacy experts and policy stakeholders from around the world to get input on what transparency changes they want to see in our ads system.
"A consistent answer was that we should increase our transparency around how our machine learning models contribute to the ads people see on our services.
"We are committed to using machine learning models responsibly. Being transparent about how we use machine learning is essential because it ensures that people are aware that this technology is a part of our ads system and that they know the types of information it is using. By stepping up our transparency around how our machine learning models work to deliver ads, we aim to help people feel more secure and increase our accountability.
"The changes we’re making to 'Why am I seeing this ad?' reflect the feedback we’ve received and are designed to provide people with clear information about the machine learning models that help determine the ads they see.
"These new features are the latest step in our continuous evolution of “Why am I seeing this ad?” We will continue to improve our ads transparency offerings and search for new ways to provide people with better understanding of how we use data and technology to show them ads."
Where can I find Meta's 'why am I seeing this ad?'
You can click on the three-dot menu in the upper-right-hand corner of any ad you see in your Facebook Feed and navigate to 'Why am I seeing this ad'.
As always, you can still hide all ads from a given advertiser and access ads preferences from the 'why am I seeing this ad?' interface.
The updated version of 'why am I seeing this ad?' is rolling out globally on Facebook first, but Meta plans on expanding it to Instagram in the future
Have something to say on this? Share your views in the comments section below. Or if you have a news story or tip-off, drop us a line at adnews@yaffa.com.au
Sign up to the AdNews newsletter, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for breaking stories and campaigns throughout the day.