Facebook's targeted ads will move beyond Facebook, to offer a more refined experience

Facebook has traditionally provided ads that specifically target Facebook users. Now, Facebook will start targeting users who don’t have Facebook accounts or are not signed into Facebook.

Advertising services provided by the likes of Google, Facebook and Microsoft target users based on who those companies think you are. They create an ad profile based on your activity on their services and the information that you’ve shared with them.

Facebook traditionally expected users to be logged in to Facebook (there will be an identifying cookie on your device) and would identify your advertising ID and send you targeted advertising. Facebook now intends to target users who aren’t on Facebook and also those who’ve not logged into Facebook (i.e. the identifying cookie isn’t present on your PC). Facebook will do this by analysing your cookies and other identifying information on your device and create an advertising profile based on that information.

Targeted advertising is a bit controversial because of the privacy concerns it raises, but all the advertising giants insist that the gathered data is private. These very same companies also insist that targeted advertising cuts down on unwanted ads by showing you something that you’ll actually want to click on. In their book at least, it’s a win-win.

Andrew Bosworth, VP, ads and business platform, Facebook had this to say, “One of the things we’ve heard from people is that many of the ads they see are annoying, distracting, or misleading. We think companies can do better, and that’s why we’ve been focused on improving ads both on and off Facebook.”

Differentiating themselves from “other” advertisers, Facebook claims they do this by respecting people’s privacy and adhering to strict guidelines with regards to the quality of ads. Apparently, they have safeguards in place to ensure that users don’t accidentally click on ads on mobile devices for example. Other guidelines prohibit sound in ads unless the user interacts with them directly.

In the interest of privacy, Facebook will also let you completely opt-out of targeted advertising from within the settings on your Facebook profile.

Ads are here to stay and if Facebook (and Google) can sanitize the more abhorrent forms of advertising, targeted advertising may not be all that bad.