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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 you like. 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 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. You can view and adjust your ad preferences here.

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

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.

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

Facebook’s data providers specialize in helping advertisers find the right people to show their ads to. For example, Facebook works with data providers to find people on Facebook who they think advertisers will want to reach, based on preferences these people might have. Some of our data providers include Acxiom, Datalogix, Epsilon, Experian and Merkle.

Learn more about how we use information about you in our Data Policy.

Facebook and other companies use technologies like cookies, pixel tags and local storage to show you ads that are useful to you. For example, a cookie can help an advertiser understand if you saw an ad for their product on Facebook before you bought it from their website.

Learn more about how Facebook uses these technologies.

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.

We adhere to the Self-Regulatory Principles for Online Behavioral Advertising established by the Digital Advertising Alliance. You can 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.

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.

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: