MANILA, Philippines – Facebook will be making it easier for its users to determine why they’re getting specific advertisements on the social network and to opt out of targeted advertisements on the platform.

In a post on Thursday, July 11, Facebook announced it was working on tweaking the “Why am I seeing this ad” tool on the site by letting it provide more information to users, including detailed targeting information, “including the interests or categories that matched you with a specific ad.”

A Buzzfeed report showed how this would work, with the information on the tool adding a basic timeline of the data brokering going on in the background that powers advertisements online. For example, an ad from Chase bank came to a user profile as a result of information sent in by Liveramp. The information allowed Chase to send ads to users on its list.  

The tool will also try to clear up where that information came from – such as whether the targeting came from a site visit or a page you liked – and make it easier for users to tailor their experiences. 

A second tweak to the service will also list “Advertisers who uploaded a list with your information and advertised to it” and “Businesses who uploaded and shared a list with your information” under your ad preferences.

Essentially, businesses who uploaded lists of people online to be served ads would be identified, alongside the brands and businesses using those specific lists to send users ads. 

Users can already go into their ad preferences page to tweak how they’re being targeted.  A full rollout of the tweaks should occur soon, though you can preview the changes further here.  – Rappler.com