Continuing
to stress transparency, Facebook is adding a “Why am I seeing this post?” tab to all the content in users’ News Feeds.
“This is the first time we’ve built
information on how ranking works directly into the app,” Ramya Sethuraman, product manager at Facebook, notes in a new blog post.
The tech titan is also adding new controls for users to
tailor the content they receive in their Feeds.
“People told us transparency into News Feed algorithms wasn’t enough without corresponding controls,” Sethuraman
said.
Exactly how Facebook’s content-ranking algorithm works remains a trade secret, but the company is trying to make the process less mysterious. For example, Facebook wants people to
know rank is largely determined by how often they interact with posts from particular people, Pages and Groups, the overall popularity of those posts.
The new offering adds to Facebook’s
“Why am I seeing this ad?” feature, which first debuted in 2014. It shows people how basic demographic details, interests and Web site visits contribute to ads they receive.
Going
forward, Facebook is adding additional details about how ads are targeted to particular users.
For example, businesses can reach existing customers on Facebook by uploading information
they already have, such as emails and phone numbers, Sethuraman said.
“We then try to match the ad to the most relevant audience without revealing any identifiable information back to
the business,” he explained.
“Why am I seeing this ad?” will now provide details such as when the advertiser uploaded the information, or if the advertiser worked with
another marketing partner to run the ad.
Despite such offers, critics ontinue to question Facebook’s commitment to advertising transparency and fair business practices.
Just last month, federal prosecutors launched a criminal investigation into Facebook, which focuses on its data-sharing partnerships with other top tech companies.
Also, a
report recently
published by
The Wall Street Journal accused Facebook of collecting sensitive information that consumers share with apps -- even when consumers are not logged into the social network.