Facebook Changes the Way It Measures Accounts for Advertisers

  • Facebook will stop linking user accounts behind the scenes
  • Company says update is due to privacy, regulatory changes
Photographer: Gabby Jones/Bloomberg
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Facebook Inc. is changing the way it counts user profiles for advertising purposes -- a move that will increase the number of total accounts an advertiser can reach -- as part of an effort to improve privacy.

The company currently uses data, like a user’s email address or phone ID, to link that person’s Facebook and Instagram accounts for advertising purposes. “We counted someone with multiple accounts as one person,” Facebook explained in a blog post Monday.