You Should Know These New Safety Controls for Facebook Advertisers

A survey conducted recently discovered that the vast majority of consumers in the U.S. would stop buying specific products which are advertised on Facebook in close proximity to dangerous or extreme online content. A full 80% of those surveyed indicated that they had misgivings about purchasing anything which appeared in an advertisement that was situated close by some kind of extreme content.Facebook has taken this to heart, and is responding to criticism it has received about its political ad policies, so it is providing advertisers with a new set of tools to help overcome the situation. Included in these tools are some sophisticated measures by which brands will be able to choose where their messages and ads appear, prior to having them go live.

Publishers, creators, and advertisers will be able to submit whitelists which contain the names of video makers and publishers whom they specifically support. At the present time, advertisers do have some control over where ads will show up within creator or publisher content. They can also create publisher lists for the purpose of identifying some possibilities where their ads might appear.Advertisers can also prevent ads from being placed next to specific publishers by submitting blocklists to Facebook. They also have the ability to curate inventory filters in which they can personally select the content they desire to be associated with their company brand. This new policy from Facebook represents the culmination of two years of research and development, which is intended to provide advertisers with as many controls as possible, so as to give them a feeling of safety and security.

Dynamic content sets

Facebook partners will be able to use a new collection of in-stream placements which can be used to update and adjust video content. This content is routinely available to advertisers based on their specific interests and needs, it is a content-level white listing tool which is made available through either Open Slate, Integral Ad Science, or Facebook's newest brand safety associate, Zefr.

Whitelists and blocklists

Both of these tools are often used by advertisers to manage exactly where their ads will appear on Facebook's Audience Network. One big difference between the two however, is that when using blocklists, an advertiser must know all the sites and potential variants of content they desire to steer clear of. Those not identified on the blocklist will be left open.

When using whitelists, it's a little different in that the sites contained on this list are approved ahead of time, and all others are avoided. It's easy to see the value of using a whitelist, and it's considered much more effective, because it pre-identifies all those sites your brand is willing to be associated with.Facebook has revealed that whitelists are now in test mode on their Audience Network, and it expects a broad rollout in 2020. In recognition of the fact that zero tolerance for harmful content doesn't necessarily equate to zero occurrences, they are continuing to invest in advancements like these to satisfy their advertisers.While the platform considers it a challenge to work with various industry experts, and to use the latest tools and technology to accomplish all this, it has enlisted some of the best expertise in the country to join in the effort. With the incidence of fake news and extremist content ever on the rise, it has become necessary to protect the safety of brands at a higher level, so they won't be discouraged by certain situations on the platform.Facebook considers this to be a huge benefit to brands, advertisers and other platforms, as well as to persons in general. Marketers will thus have the opportunity to build on solid business approaches and innovations which feature safety and privacy, and that take them to a higher level than simple protective measures.

Greater access to reports and controls

When using Ads Manager or Business Manager, brands will be able to create blocklists and find delivery reports which they can use in their decision-making processes. An account-level inventory filter can be established which ensures that adequate safety controls are being used all across the account. This overcomes the need to set the same controls whenever a new campaign is being developed. Since the controls are already set at the account level, there is no need to specify them every time something is developed at a lower level.

The delivery reports themselves provide streamlined access to account information, without having to physically download the report. These reports can be obtained by using a simple search for either publisher or account ID, after which all relevant information would be displayed. Facebook has announced that it has plans for enhancing this update even further with content-level information that will add considerably more data to the reports, and make them more useful to advertisers.With better information at their fingertips, it is expected that brands will be able to refine their advertising campaigns, to make better use of their ad spend, and to achieve better results on the platform. Some of these enhancements included are a direct result of input provided by brands and advertisers, and which are considered to be more useful and valuable information.

Availability of new controls

It is expected that the new tools which will assist advertisers in controlling the positioning of their ads, as well as the new delivery reports, will be generally available sometime in early 2020. It is thought that testing of these new features is now in the final stages at present, and that advance testing by users will begin shortly.Assuming that no major glitches are identified during these final steps, it is likely that advertisers will be able to use the new features early next year. It is also likely that additional enhancements like these will continue to be developed, because Facebook is well aware that advertisers are the primary group keeping the platform afloat, and since that is what pays the bills, these individuals must be kept satisfied.