Hey! So all those Facebook ads that are suddenly popping into your feed because someone “liked” something from a commercial site? You don’t like being linked that way? Don’t want to annoy your friends the same way?

Fix it!

If you look at the top of your Facebook page, on the right in the blue bar, you’ll see your icon and name, “Home” and a downward triangle.

Click the triangle once to open up your settings. Look at the bottom of the left column and you’ll see a text link for “privacy settings.” Click that link and it will open up a page with lots of useful settings here.

Find “Ads, Apps and Websites” to keep sponsored ads from showing up with your name on other FB user pages. Click Edit Settings again.

You can adjust all sorts of things here, especially if you use Apps frequently, but the sponsored ad stuff is below. See Ads, and click Edit Settings again.

Now you have two major ad types and you have to set each one individually. “Ads shown by third parties” and “Ads and friends” each have their own settings. Click through each section’s Edit Settings. (Or, try using these links, which might work for your login (or not):

https://www.facebook.com/settings?tab=ads

https://www.facebook.com/settings?tab=ads&section=platform

https://www.facebook.com/settings?tab=ads&section=social

The default is set to “Only My Friends” but you can change it to show “No One” your information. You have to choose the option in both places and save your settings.

FB advertised this change months and months ago, but finally got around to implementing the sponsor code about a month or so ago and it’s rolling out slowly. I just started seeing the ads on my page.

If you want me to tell you I’m seeing your name associated with restaurants and such, let me know. Happy to oblige.

Comments:

Me: Now in convenient shareable format.

LS: I don’t think this actually works. I’ve had both of those settings set to “No One” for a long time, and I still see both types of ads regularly in my feed. Until this changes, I consider it nothing but a digital pacifier.

Me: No. Your settings affect what you display on other people’s pages. FB defaults to displaying your likes for your friends unless you take the time to say otherwise. Your friends need to do the same. As you can see from the directions, these settings are very well hidden. The average user has no idea how to change these settings – something FB counts on for selling the ads in the first place.

Like I said, feel free to share.

LS: Ah, I misread. And yes, they are very well hidden, a true marvel of deliberately obfuscated GUI design. I must grudgingly admire the evil genius behind it.

Me: Remarkable how sneaky this is, huh?

LS: Almost as hard to find as the place where you can block specific apps.

“But look, you found the notice didn’t you?”

“Yes,” said Arthur, “yes I did. It was on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying ‘Beware of the Leopard’.”

Me: HHGTTG reference FTW!

JZS: Thanks for typing this up. I had already set my preferences thusly but it pays to check that they haven’t somehow changed mysteriously.