Facebook Targeting Individual Users: What It Means

Seeing an ad tied to your interests can prompt a question: can Facebook reach one particular person? Interest targeting uses topics associated with people to shape which audience receives an ad.

I’ll explain what the 2021 study tested and show how to review Facebook Ad Preferences.

TL;DR: Can Facebook target one person with interests?

A 2021 study showed that a carefully chosen combination of Facebook interests could be used to deliver ads to an intended individual in the researchers’ experiment. That finding describes a demonstrated possibility at the time, not proof that every advertiser can target any person through today’s interface.

• Several interests can identify a much narrower audience than a single broad interest.
• The study tested 21 campaigns directed at three of its authors.
• Facebook Ad Preferences let users adjust some ad personalization settings.
• Changing preferences affects ad selection, not the total number of ads.

What does individual targeting mean on Facebook?

Interest targeting uses topics associated with people to shape which audience receives an ad. Interest targeting groups people by topics associated with them. The term “individual targeting” describes the possibility of narrowing that group to an intended person.

The 2021 paper uses the term “nanotargeting” for this method, which relies on interest signals rather than a direct identifier such as a phone number.

The advertiser did not enter the person’s name or receive an identity report from Facebook. In the experiment, the selected audience conditions and the platform’s delivery system produced an ad delivery to the intended recipient.

What did the Facebook nanotargeting study test?

The Internet Measurement Conference paper, published in 2021, models how interest combinations may distinguish users in a dataset. To test delivery, the researchers ran 21 Facebook campaigns aimed at three of the paper’s authors.

The authors report reaching the intended targets in their experiment. They also discuss manipulation and blackmail risks and propose countermeasures.

The result is evidence of feasibility in that experiment, not a description of every advertiser’s present-day options.

Why can a combination be more identifying than one interest?

Combining interest conditions may identify a narrower group, depending on the options available and Facebook’s audience estimates. An estimate describes a group. Delivery records whether an ad was served.

A user’s displayed interests alone reveal neither an advertiser’s available combinations nor the delivery outcome for a specific account.

How to review Facebook ad preferences

Facebook’s Ad Preferences page lets you inspect and adjust some information and topics used to personalize ads. Meta’s current help instructions place the controls under account settings, though the labels can vary as Meta updates Accounts Center and Meta Account settings.

Step 1: Open Ad Preferences

On Facebook, open your profile menu, choose Settings & privacy, then Settings. Open Meta Account and choose Ad preferences. Some accounts show Accounts Center instead, and available settings differ.

If that route is missing, Meta’s help page suggests trying an updated app or opening Accounts Center in a browser. Use the current official help page as the reference because menu names can change between app versions and account configurations.

Step 2: Review topics and advertisers

In Ad preferences, the Customize ads area includes controls for ad topics and a list of advertisers whose ads you have seen. Review the available options and use the controls shown in your account to reduce topics or hide ads from a listed advertiser where that option is offered.

Meta describes ad topics as subjects that users can choose to see less of. This control changes the topic preference shown in the account. Read the explanatory text beside each control before changing it, especially when the option applies across Facebook and Instagram.

Review activity controls

Open the Manage info area to review profile details used for ads and personalization based on activity from other businesses. Meta’s help materials describe options for managing that activity. Availability and labels may vary by region and account, so follow the choices shown in your settings rather than an old menu path.

After changing a setting, return to that page and confirm the choice appears as selected. This verifies the preference you changed. The page confirms a preference, not the reasons for a particular ad.

What changing ad preferences can do

Ad Preferences lets you change selected personalization controls. Those choices can affect which ads appear. Meta says the total number of ads remains unchanged.

Control	What to check
Ad topic	Whether the topic is set to see less of
Advertiser	Whether a hide option is available for that advertiser
Activity from other businesses	Which activity controls your account offers
Profile information	Which details are listed for ad personalization

After changing one option, revisit that control and confirm the selected value. This checks the preference you changed, not the criteria behind an individual ad impression.

Meta documents regional and account differences in these choices. Use the labels visible in your account, and do not treat a missing option as proof that another control has the same effect.

For related context, see CodeForGeek’s article on privacy concerns and user preferences and its overview of privacy-enhancing technologies. Meta’s Ad Preferences instructions describe the account controls.

What should you check when adding or creating Facebook users?

Business access manages assets through business settings. An ad audience is a set of accounts eligible to receive an ad.

To add a colleague from an admin dashboard, open the business settings for the correct business, choose the people or users area, and use the invite control. Enter the colleague’s work email, select only the assets and permissions needed for the task, then review the invitation before sending it. Follow the labels shown in the current interface.

Business access changes account security. Use a narrower role than administrator when it covers the work, and verify the invitee and assets before confirming the invitation.

Personal Facebook signup is different again. The intended user should complete Facebook signup themselves. An administrator should not impersonate them or collect their sign-in credentials.

Once an invited person accepts business access, they can return to the business dashboard by signing in with their own account and opening the business tools available to them. The list of pages, ad accounts, or other assets depends on the permissions assigned. If an asset is missing, check the business and assigned access before sending another invitation.

Individual access should be limited to the work assigned. Dashboard access exposes only assigned tools and assets. Review access when the task ends and remove what is no longer needed.

What to do next

First identify whether you are changing your own ad preferences, inviting a colleague to business tools, or creating a personal account. These actions affect different settings and should not be treated as ways to identify or reach one person through ad interests.

• For ad personalization, review the available Ad Preferences controls.
• For a colleague, use business settings and assign only the required access.
• For a new personal account, let its intended user complete signup themselves.

Conclusion: Treat interest controls as one privacy setting

The 2021 study is evidence about its own test conditions, not a live view into an advertiser’s audience settings.

Review Ad Preferences and confirm each saved choice. Meta’s help page explains user controls.

FAQ

These options affect ad personalization: