Facebook Inc. announced on Thursday that its users will be able to use a new ad preferences feature that lets them control the advertisements they see.
When users see an ad they don't like, they can tell the social networking services what kind of ads they would rather see, according to The New York Times.
Facebook currently collects data based on users liking brand pages, sharing ads and other activities, and, starting next week, will move to improve its data targeting by tapping information it currently collects from users' smartphones and other websites they go on. Users can avoid this kind of tracking by going to a special ad industry website and changing their smartphone settings.
The social network has about 1.3 billion users each month. Most of the money that the company makes comes from advertising. The company made $2.5 billion in revenue in the first quarter of the year, with $2.27 billion of it coming from ads, CNET reported.
Facebook's decision comes as the Federal Trade Commission and the White House are searching for better ways to keep consumer data from being collected and shared. Such methods include providing more tools to help people control the kind of digital data that gets shared.
Google, Yahoo, and other Internet giants already let consumers see, block and change some of the personal information used to deliver ads, The New York Times reported.
Data broker Acxiom last year started to let people see some of the information about them that was collected.
With the new feature, Facebook users can click a link next to an ad called "Why am I seeing this?" and Facebook will let the users know why it chose to show that ad, CNET reported.
"Let's say you're thinking about buying a new TV, and you started researching TVs on the web and in mobile maps. We may show you ads for deals on a TV to help you get the best price or other brands to consider," Facebook said. "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."
Users will also be able to look through their ad preferences to see the qualities that the company believes describes them, The New York Times reported.
They can then add, delete, or change the information.
