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New Facebook Feature: Off-Facebook Activity

 

Written on 01/29/20 11:36 AM

 

New Facebook Feature: Off-Facebook Activity In an effort to be more transparent, Facebook has released a feature called Off-Facebook Activity. This allows users to see a summary of the apps and websites activity that Facebook collects and clear this information from their account. People can also choose to have this data disconnected from their account in the future. The removed data cannot be used for targeting moving forward.

Facebook receives this activity through businesses and organizations sharing it when they use Facebook business tools like the Facebook Pixel, the Facebook SDK and Facebook Login. It uses this information to:

● Show you more relevant ads.

● Suggest groups, events, or Marketplace items you might be interested in.

● Help you discover new businesses and brands.

● Help businesses and organizations understand how their website, app, or ads are performing and whether they’re reaching the right people.

● Identify suspicious activity to help keep Facebook safe.

What does this mean for advertisers? Potentially less people to target. If you’re a casino and you want to reach those who have expressed interest in casinos, then Off-Facebook Activity would allow people to clear those interests from their account and you would miss the chance to connect with those people.

It’s hard to say whether or not users will take full advantage of this new feature. They need to be concerned about their data, know how to enable it, and most importantly they need to opt out rather than opt in, which likely means more people will continue without using Off-Facebook Activity.

Facebook began rollout of the feature in the United States on October 1, and since then isn’t reporting any negative feedback. Here at RPM, we also haven’t seen any performance decline, but will continue to closely monitor in the coming months.

Facebook is playing the long game by giving users more control and information about how advertisers use Facebook’s tools. By educating about marketing practices, Facebook believes it can gain more trust among its users to keep them engaged on the platform (and providing data).