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Facebook launches searchable transparency library of all active ads

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Re: Facebook launches searchable transparency library of all active ads

#41
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You have to change the country in the top right.

Do you know why Canada is not present ?

It's there, but further down. The list goes Austria to United States, then Afghanistan to Zimbabwe... for some reason. Canada is in the second block. Again, for some reason.

Re: Facebook launches searchable transparency library of all active ads

#43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you know why Canada is not present ?

It's there, but further down. The list goes Austria to United States, then Afghanistan to Zimbabwe... for some reason. Canada is in the second block. Again, for some reason.

The beauty of UX. Or lack of it.

Re: Facebook launches searchable transparency library of all active ads

#44
post #8

I was blocked by Facebook after 2 searches. So much for transparency.

Was there any feedback on the reason or mechanism for blocking?

I got blocked too. Got the following message:

  Blocked from Searching or Viewing the Ad Archive

  You have been temporarily blocked from searching or viewing the Ad Archive due to too many requests. Please try again later.

Re: Facebook launches searchable transparency library of all active ads

#45
This has been available for a while from all company's pages, but it's cool to see it in searchable format.

EDIT: Ah, only political ads are searchable, but all ads are findable by looking up a company page. Just like before, so there's not much actually new here.

Re: Facebook launches searchable transparency library of all active ads

#47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's there, but further down. The list goes Austria to United States, then Afghanistan to Zimbabwe... for some reason. Canada is in the second block. Again, for some reason.

The beauty of UX. Or lack of it.

Things like this always remind me of this awesome talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KVyFio8gw4

The example starting at 9:45 especially relates.

Re: Facebook launches searchable transparency library of all active ads

#48

I wish they would just launch a friggin paid option. No ads, no data collection (for selling, I understand they need some to literally make the site function). I happily pay youtube for an adfree experience and wouldn't balk at doing the same for facebook.

They have a paid option. Advertisers pay them to show you ads and get your data.

You are not a customer. You are the product. Produce doesn't get to chose how and where it is displayed.

Re: Facebook launches searchable transparency library of all active ads

#49
post #6

I have tried this in the UK and it seems to be limited to political ads only - I was not able to find a major brand like O2 (mobile carrier) for example.

This whole thing seems like more harm than good and an example of Facebook (intentionally or not) having a larger political influence than a "social media" company should.

I think "limited to political ads only" adds to the initial problem of political ads in first place.

What even counts as a "political ad"?

Sure, there are obvious examples like "vote ___ for governor", but then is an advertisement for condoms a "political ad"? It's a politically charged topic, so... it depends.

Re: Facebook launches searchable transparency library of all active ads

#50
post #38
post #16

Apparently yoga studios running ads are often blocked for being "political" or of "national importance". Oh dear, facebook, oh dear. https://www.facebook.com/ads/library/?active_status=all&ad_t...

You're misreading it. The flag is "Related to politics or issues of importance ", not "national importance". Even then it could just be of importance in that targeted country. Facebook is using this as a flag for sensitive content to viewers, for everything from Happy Holidays to Yoga, which has a philosophical and religious history beyond stretching-in-different-poses. For example, this watch ad with Santa Claus get…

I am not mistaken. Go look, the first ad for Yoga, click on the info icon and you will see:

“This ad ran without a disclaimer. After the ad started running, we determined that the ad was related to politics and issues of national importance and required the label. The ad was taken down.”

This is the same for many other yoga ads.

Yoga studios aren’t political orgs not are the issues of national importance.

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