Two of the most important events in 2018 in terms of online data use include the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which came into effect on May 25, and the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica data scandal, which hit the New York Times and The Guardian headlines on March 17. But the event that most rocked the data boat this year was the Cambridge Analytica scandal, where the third-party political data firm hired for Trump’s 2016 campaign gained access to the private information to over 50 million Facebook users, and then using that data to eventually influence behavior. These two events changed the course of how Facebook, and many other online platforms, provide digital advertising services. This data allowed advertisers to target offline behavior, like persons buying a home or purchasing a car. You could imagine the uproar from people who felt compromised after learning about this, but it is important to note that this is a fairly common practice in digital advertising. This feature is what made Facebook Advertising so effective, attractive, and affordable for small businesses and entrepreneurs. That is because GDPR is requiring companies to ask for explicit consent from European Union visitors and customers to collect and use their data, even if it is just website activity. Facebook Pixel is code that you can place on your site that helps Facebook collect information about your website visitors, so that you can use it to target them later using Facebook Ads. That means you can no longer use the downloaded contacts from LinkedIn, emails you’ve collected from business cards at a recent networking event, purchased lists from email brokers, etc. What you should do There are many, many other changes that will affect all kinds of companies, large and small.
The way you advertise on Facebook is changing dramatically, so here are some of the most important things to note.
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If you’ve relied on Facebook Advertising to reach new and existing customers for your business, then this year may have been a real pain in the butt for you.
Two of the most important events in 2018 in terms of online data use include the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which came into effect on May 25, and the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica data scandal, which hit the New York Times and The Guardian headlines on March 17.
GDPR was initially announced in 2016, but did not become enforceable until this year, buying companies some time to become compliant. In short, the GDPR is a new set of laws that changed the way companies handle online data from EU residents, and empowered EU citizens with more control of their personal data.
But the event that most rocked the data boat this year was the Cambridge Analytica scandal, where the third-party political data firm hired for Trump’s 2016 campaign gained access to the private information to over 50 million Facebook users, and then using that data to eventually influence behavior. You can read the full details in this New York Times article.
These two events changed the course of how Facebook, and many other online platforms, provide digital advertising services. While there are many changes that have already happened and will happen, we’ll focus on a few key changes that most affect small to medium-sized business owners.
No more Partner Categories (for now)
Likely the most upsetting change that Facebook is making is the removal of Partner Categories, which are targeting options provided by third-party data firms, like Acxion, Experian, Cambridge Analytica and more. This data allowed advertisers to target offline behavior, like persons buying a home or purchasing a car.
You could imagine the uproar from people who felt compromised after learning about this, but it is important to note that this is a fairly common practice in digital advertising. These data firms, or data brokers, created detailed profiles using various methods that you may have opted into unknowingly. In addition to large purchases, they also know what offline and online stores you have visited, your political or…
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