How to Opt Out of Targeted Ads on Facebook

In this tutorial, we will provide instructions to help you opt out of targeted or personalized ads on Facebook. Suppose you are looking for a product on your favorite shopping site. The next moment, when you open Facebook, you will be surprised to see your feed displaying advertisements based on this same product. Well, that’s what advertising targeting is. As the name suggests, this type of advertising is targeted and personalized just for you.

It is mainly based on your recent research and the idea behind it is clear and simple. You are much more likely to view and click on these announcements than any other general announcement. On Facebook, you can see them labeled as sponsored. But not everyone is a fan of these sponsored ads. Therefore, in this guide, we will detail the steps to deactivate targeted ads on Facebook via its Android application. On that note, also see the steps to turn off personalized ads on Android devices.

Disable targeted ads on Facebook

Not only are your previous searches, but these ads are also based on pages you've already enjoyed, your demographic profile, including age and location and other such details. And it's really scary to know that we really have no idea who and how this data is processed. Even more so after the recent Cambridge Analytica scandal, it is not a safe practice to let these third parties keep track of your activities. Here are the steps to deactivate targeted ads on Facebook. Also see the steps to protect your personal data and privacy on Facebook.

Steps to follow

1. Open the Facebook app on your Android device and tap the hamburger menu.
2. Then press settings and scroll down to the Announcements section. Press on Ad Preferences inside.
3. Now there are two ways to go forward. You can either deactivate targeted ads from a particular domain, or completely ban all targeted ads on Facebook.
4. If you choose the old option, press See all your interest. This option will be located under the Your interests section.
5. From there, just tap the overflow menu next to the section whose ads you no longer want to see and tap Remove interest.
6. However, for a complete ban (deactivation) of targeted Facebook ads, press Ad settings. Regarding ad blocking, see our separate guide on the same subject.
7. Then select the first option, that is to say Ads based on partner data.
8. Press Continue, deactivate the allowed rock and touch Save.
9. Then select the second option which controls Ads based on your activity on Facebook products. This option is located in the Facebook Ads Settings section. Scroll down and select No.

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Final remarks

These are the steps to opt out of targeted ads on Facebook (which also provides the option to delete your search history). But keep that in mind. This would not minimize the frequency of these announcements. You will continue to receive the same number of ads, but they will not be specifically targeted to your recent activities. What do you think of these types of ads? Are you ready to opt out of targeted Facebook ads?

Some users are still favorable to the fact that they would receive advertisements anyway, it is at least preferable that they are based on the topic of interest rather than on vague topics. They therefore willingly authorize the giants of social networks to send them personalized advertisements. It ultimately comes down to the amount of privacy that you are willing to share with others.

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