What's Facebook Hiding in the Advertising Department?

It is important for advertisers to know (and control) where their brand messaging appears, but up to this point that ability has been lacking at Facebook.

The network has just released some tools, however, that were developed to give social advertisers more control over how ads appear within in-stream video ads on Facebook, Instant Articles and the Audience Network.

Facebook's new "pre-campaign transparency tool" will enable advertiser to review where ads "could" run on and off the platform and provide a means to opt out of certain publishers if that environment does not speak to their brand sensibilities.

“Advertisers want separate controls for inside the news feed environment and outside the news feed environment where ads are more deeply integrated with content,” said Michel Protti, a director of product marketing at Facebook.

The problem with all this digital razzle dazzle from Zuckerberg and crew is that it really doesn't address the main problem with Facebook advertising in general - that it just is not possible to see where ads ended up running after campaigns were completed (much less block them before future campaigns or place third-party brand safe tags).

Facebook, of course, vowed to look at continued enhancements to its platform. Brands promoting their products and services on the network might want to give some serious thought about what Facebook is so afraid of when it comes to being transparent.