How to Block Facebook Ads

Do you ever feel bombarded with all the Facebook ads that pop up while scrolling or when watching videos?

You’re not the only one. However, keep in mind Facebook has over 2.2 billion users. This makes it a prime platform for businesses reaching for new audiences.

Fortunately, there are ways to block Facebook ads. With a little expert help, you can enjoy an ad-free Facebook experience.

Read on below to understand how:

What is a Facebook Ad?

A Facebook ad is a form of advertisement made by a business sent out to a Facebook audience. It’s based on their users’ activities, demographics, and profile information. In some cases, these ads also use your device information and your activities outside Facebook.

Each advertiser is different since they have their own set of goals. Some could have objectives in line with your interests, meaning you’ll get ads that show your interests on time. But in most cases, they can become intrusive and distracting.

With that, you need to take matters into your own hands by either reducing irrelevant ads or eliminating everything.

How to Block Facebook Ads

Facebook is a great social media platform, but its recent delve into more monetization methods made it inconvenient to some people. You’ll see sponsored posts as well as advertisements in their messenger app. With about 3 million businesses investing in Facebook Ads, it’s no surprise that you’d like to block them off.

The worst part is that Facebook needs revenue to keep its operations. That’s why the platform doesn’t have any “remove ads” feature within its platform. The only option you have is to customize your ad preferences.

Customizing ad preferences won’t remove or lessen the ads. But at least they’re better suited to the things that interest you. But if you want to block Facebook ads completely, you’ll need to use third-party software.

Here are some methods you can use:

How to Remove Irrelevant Facebook Ads

There are two ways for you to start seeing relevant ads on Facebook at least. This doesn’t remove all the Facebook ads in your newsfeed, but it gets rid of the most irrelevant ones.

Giving Regular Feedback

You can do this by clicking the three-dots button located in the upper right corner of the sponsored post. This will open a set of options, where you need to choose “Hide Ad.” This will ensure that you won’t see similar ads in the future.

Another option is to pick “Report Ad” if you find it offensive. Regardless, Facebook will give you a chance to explain why you chose to hide the ad. You can choose whether it’s irrelevant, misleading or offensive, or annoyingly persistent.

Customizing Your Preferences

Look at the upper right corner of your Facebook page and click the small triangle. Pick “Settings” and choose the “Ads” section located at the left side of your screen. This takes you to the Ad Preferences dashboard.

Pick “Your Interests” and check whether the information is correct. It’s important to list down as many interests as you’re comfortable with. That way, you’ll have a more personalized ad experience, meaning you’ll get more relevant ads.

Click “Your Information” and check the categories your profile is part of. You can adjust these settings to suit your preferences. After all, most advertisers will use this information to target the right audience.

You can also look at your “Ad Settings” since this enables you to disallow Facebook from using your behavior data on other sites and apps for their ad targeting process. If you want to ban specific ad topics like alcohol, click “Hide Ad Topics”.

How to Stop Facebook Ads Using an Ad Blocker

Customizing your ads isn’t always enough to remove the inconvenience they cause you. If you want to block off all the ads, you need to outsmart the platform. What you need to do is to get an ad blocker that stops the ads at a system level.

You can search the internet for these ad blockers and put them as part of your browser extensions. Once installed, it does the job on its own, as long as you don’t deactivate it. The best part is that most ad block extensions will also block various ads regardless of whether you’re visiting a website or using an app.

You can also use an ad blocker app that stops ads at a deeper level. That means you won’t have to install an adblocker extension for every browser you’re using. These often come at a price, but their blocking power is often worth the price tag.

How to Stop Ads in Facebook Messenger

This is the newest type of ad Facebook implemented for its messenger app. It’s also one of the most intrusive forms of ads so far. In-messenger ads often distract you more than the sponsored posts since the latter looks native at least.

Also, Facebook Messenger ads take more screen space compared to your actual friend conversations. That makes navigating your inbox a more frustrating experience. The worst part is that in-messenger Facebook ads use a new form of technology.

So, what does this mean? To put it simply, there is no means of blocking these ads for now. But most ad blocker companies are researching the technology to block it off. But for now, you should stay tuned and wait for more updates.

Get Rid of Facebook Ads Today!

These are the easiest ways for you to block Facebook ads. It isn’t much of a hassle since it doesn’t require a lot of effort to do. It’s important to remember that ads make up the majority of Facebook’s revenue, so it’s expected for them to develop technologies to counteract ad blockers soon.

Do you need help from professionals, regardless of their field of expertise? Feel free to read our other guides, like this one helping you determine if Facebook went down or if the problem is at your end.