In light of the recent backlash Facebook has been facing, several changes were made in the last couple months. The bulk of these were related to Facebook Ads targeting options, as well as preferred audience for organic targeting.
Over the last couple days, a fairly interesting addition was made. Facebook Info & Ads. With the new “Info & Ads” section, users can immediately see any ads a page is running. No ads in your country? You can also see which countries they happen to be running their ads in. This was done to bring additional transparency to Facebook.
In case you’re wondering how it looks, here’s an example. Simply click on any Facebook business page. “Info & Ads” appears as a tab on desktop or on a button on the cover for mobile. Once you click you it, you will see any active ads that the page is running across Facebook, Instagram or Messenger.
I just browsed my Facebook newsfeed, and this is the first advertisement that came up. Clearly, I’m interested in Digital Marketing! So, I clicked on the page.
Below, you can see a screenshot of the “Info & Ads” tab highlighted in red. In case you’re wondering, no, you cannot remove this tab.
Now, when we click on it, we can see all the active ads running, including:
Aside from that, you can also see on the right column:
So what exactly does this mean for advertisers? One thing is certain: we can now know exactly what our competitors are doing. Curious to know if there’s any new methods of creativity you should be trying out? It’s literally just a click away.
Of course, this also means that your competitors can see exactly what you are doing.
Aside from the advertisers, what does this actually mean for users? One thing, is that this helps users to know if a page has engaged in deceptive practices, such as routinely changing the page name.
Because Facebook Users will be able to see all active ads in one place, this would also mean that advertisers must ensure consistent brand messaging across the platform.
But how will seeing all the ads up front affect the user in terms of engagement? I suppose that’s something that only time will tell!
What other interesting outcomes do you foresee from Facebook info & ads? Let us know in the comments.