This Little Symbol Tells You If Facebook Is Watching…

In an effort to promote consumer awareness, The Digital Advertising Alliance launched the icon below to alert you on ads that are being served based on behavioral targeting aka interest-based advertising.
Launching soon, when you see this symbol, you will know you are being tracked for third-party retargeting ads on Facebook:

These ads are served via Facebook Ad Exchange. The intended goal is to show ads based on specific interests. In Facebook’s eyes, this method gives consumers more control by using their interests to serve more relevant ads. How do Facebook retargeting ads work? This diagram from BMO Capital Markets analyst Dan Salmon takes a crack at mapping it out:

Google Retargeting tends to outperform typical Search campaigns. But when it comes to Facebook ads, lately they just don’t perform like they used to. Many consumers are blind to them as they are bombarded with ads throughout the News Feed and right-hand column. Despite the performance of traditional Facebook ads, this method of Facebook retargeting may very well demonstrate increased ad performance. So far the results sound promising according to Exchange partners.
As a consumer, I understand that I’m most likely going to see ads if I am not paying a subscription fee. So from this mindset, I suppose it would be more beneficial to at least see ads for products and services that are relevant to my specific interests.
Keep an eye out for this little icon. I have a feeling we will be seeing it more often.
Watch this video to learn more:

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