Facebook recently made two big announcements regarding ad transparency, along with a number of changes the past year on ad policies. The most recent updates give the public an unprecedented look at what ads are being shown online. This decision is in addition to expanding its recently announced archive of political ads.

With these new changes, users will be able to go to public pages, rather those belong to brands or public figures such as politicians, and find a wealth of information regarding the page and the ads found on it.

“These steps are just the start — we’re always looking for more ways to improve. By shining a bright light on all ads, as well as the Pages that run them, we’ll make it easier to root out abuse – helping to ensure that bad actors are held accountable for the ads they run.,” Facebook explained in a recent article.

Here’s how the ad transparency works:

• View Active Ads: You can now see the ads a Page is running across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and our partner network, even if those ads aren’t shown to you. Just log into Facebook, visit any Page and select “Info and Ads.” You’ll see ad creative and copy, and you can flag anything suspicious by clicking on “Report Ad.” 

• More Page Information: You can also learn more about Pages, even if they don’t advertise. For example, you can see any recent name changes and the date the Page was created. We’ll be adding more Page information in the coming weeks.

Political ads

All election-related and issue ads on Facebook and Instagram in the US must be clearly labeled – including a “Paid for by” disclosure from the advertiser at the top of the ad. This will help ensure that you can see who is paying for the ad – which is especially important when the Page name doesn’t match the name of the company or person funding the ad. 

The archive can be reached by anyone in the world at facebook.com/politicalcontentads. People visiting the archive can see and search ads with political or issue content an advertiser has run in the US for up to seven years.

Facebook isn’t the only one making such changes. Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey has announced that Twitter is rolling out an “Ads Transparency Center” which will allow users to find out who is advertising on Twitter and how much money they are spending on the platform.

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As we all have learned, consumer trust is a fragile thing when it comes to social media and digital marketing. It is time for marketers to meet these new changes with open arms, as the goal of any marketing campaign is to prove that your brand is a trustworthy business in which people will want to interact with. Get help with Facebook and other social media here.