Facebook changes the way advertisers measure accounts

Facebook Inc. is changing the way we counts user profiles for advertising purposes (a measure that will increase the number of total accounts an advertiser can reach) as part of an effort to improve privacy.

Currently, the company uses data, such as a user’s email address or phone number, to link that person’s Facebook and Instagram accounts for advertising purposes. “We were counting someone with multiple accounts as one person,” Facebook explained in a blog post on Monday.

Now, Facebook will stop linking accounts in this way unless users explicitly ask the company to do so, or unless people use certain features that link accounts, like cross-posting to Instagram and Facebook at the same time, said Graham Mudd, vice president of product marketing for the ads.

The change will not affect lThe totals of daily or monthly active users that Facebook reports to investors each quarter for earnings.

Facebook hinted on its blog that the measure was intended to adapt to anticipated regulatory changes. “This update aligns with the trend to offer users greater control over the use of their information for advertisements and is consistent with the evolution of the advertising, privacy and regulatory environments,” adds the blog post.

Facebook, which first advised advertisers of this change in June, according to Mudd, andIt will go into effect on Monday.

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