If you have been marketing on Facebook for quite some time then you know the importance of customer lists. Starting July 2, Facebook advertisers are expected to follow new requirements that aim to make them more accountable and transparent by disclosing how they’ve obtained audience information.
Starting July 2, when uploading a new custom audience list (such as CRM exports, newsletter subscriber lists etc.) to Ads Manager you will be required to indicate how you obtained the audience’s information by choosing one of the three options:
- Directly from customers – in the case that you collected the information directly from your customers.
- Customers and partners – in the case that you collected the information from customers themselves and from a partner (agency or data provider).
- Directly from partners – in the case that you collected the information from a partner (agency or data provider).
Any choice from the above will be available to your ad viewers, who will be able to click “Why am I seeing this?” from the drop-down menu of your ad (this has always been available to all ad-viewers) and see what piece of information you uploaded (email or phone number) and if the said piece of information has been collected by you, the advertiser and/or your partners.
If you are an agency creating ads on behalf of your client then you both need to establish an audience-sharing relationship through Business Manager, and agree to Facebook’s Custom Audiences Terms.
While Facebook is in no way responsible for advertisers having any necessary permission to use and share people’s data, they will be sending them “detailed reminders of their obligation to help protect people’s privacy before they run their ads” and will “require everyone on an ad account uploading Custom Audiences to accept the terms, rather than only requiring this from the admin on the account”.
