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Facebook sells ads that appear a lot of places around the internet that aren’t Facebook, including sites that some advertisers don’t want to associate with, like gambling sites or controversial news sites like Breitbart.
Now Facebook says it will give marketers who buy ads through Facebook’s ad platform, Audience Network, a list of places their ads could actually appear online before they start their campaign.
That way, advertisers will know if their ads might appear on Breitbart, or some other website or app that doesn’t align with the brand or message they’re trying to convey.
Facebook says the move is about creating more transparency, but it’s also a response to complaints from some advertisers over the last few months that Audience Network didn’t make it clear where their ads would show up.
Justin Oliver, a former marketing manager for a transcription startup called Scribie, told the New York Times in March that his company’s ads unexpectedly appeared on Breitbart when he used Facebook’s Audience Network.
“The next thing I know, I’m getting more of these screenshots, and more people saying, ‘You’re on a white-pride site,’ and it’s the worst thing you can see when you’re a marketing manager,” he told the Times.
YouTube also dealt with a similar issue earlier this year when big brands like AT&T and Verizon pulled some ads from YouTube because they were running alongside hateful or violent videos that didn’t align with their brand.
Facebook hopes it can eliminate these kinds of surprises by sharing more info from the get-go.
Facebook marketers have always been able to list websites or apps that they don’t want to advertise on. But Facebook previously required advertisers to create that list for every single campaign, and listing every off-brand website on the internet is cumbersome.
Now advertisers can make one master list of blocked websites, and Facebook will apply that to all of the customer’s ad campaigns.
The new features have already rolled out for some video ad campaigns, and will expand into all of Facebook’s off-platform advertising throughout the year.
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
