If you are one of the 1.65 billion active monthly users on Facebook you will now be served ads, based on your information, preferences, interests and browsing history, not only on, but also off Facebook.

If you are not a Facebook user this does not mean that you are immune. For the first time, the company will collect information about everyone on the internet through various means, like cookies, plugins, etc. to serve up targeted ads to you. Two years ago, the company launched its Audience Network, which allows brands to serve up Facebook ads off of the social media platform. Previously, these sort of ads were only shown to Facebook users, but now that has changed.

We look at how Facebook users can adjust their ads settings and what changes non-Facebook users can make.

Facebook users: How to opt out of interest-based ads

Open Facebook and log in > click the down arrow in the upper right corner (next to the privacy shortcut icon) > Settings > in the left hand menu click Ads.

There are three ad settings that you can change in this section.

To stop Facebook serving you interest-based ads, click Edit next to Ads based on my use of websites and apps > change Yes to No.

The setting next to Ads on apps and websites off of the Facebook Companies will also be set to Yes. To change it, click Edit and change the setting to No.

While you are making changes to the ads that you see, you can also stop your friends and family seeing the ads that you interact with (i.e. like, comment on, or share). Click Edit next to Ads with my social actions > change the setting to No one.

To see what your preferences and interests are according to Facebook, click the Visit Ad Preferences button under the section Ads based on my preferences. Facebook will show you ads based on the interests and preferences listed on this page, including Business and Industry, Education, Food and Drink, etc. If you find any of the interests or preferences irrelevant, than you can delete them. Open a specific section like Family and Relationships, hover over a subsection like Child and click the X icon that appears on the right side to remove it.   

Note: Unfortunately making these adjustments does not mean you will no longer see any ads or Facebook will stop gathering information about you. Rather you will continue to see ads, but they will not be relevant to what Facebook thinks interests you.

Non-Facebook users: How to opt out of interest-based ads

If you are not a Facebook user you can still opt out of Facebook’s interest-based ads by visiting the Digital Advertising Alliance. Not only will you be able to stop Facebook showing you ads based on your browsing history, but you can also make adjustments for other companies like Google, Yahoo, Amazon, etc.

Go to the Digital Advertising Alliance, the section Companies Customizing Ads For Your Browser will show you a list of companies that are currently serving up interest-based ads based on your browser. You can go through and opt out of them individually by selecting the checkbox next to each company and then click the Submit your choices button.

Alternatively, scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the Choose all companies button to opt out of all participating companies in one click.

Tip: You will need to make these changes for each browser that you use.

Click the AdChoices icon in an Audience Network ad

Alternatively, if you come across any ads that you do not want to see Facebook said in its blog post that you can click the AdChoices icon in Audience Network ads to stop seeing the individual ad.

Image credit: geralt; Pixabay