When Did Custom Audiences Launch on Facebook?

Facebook released its Custom Audiences tool in September 2012. A Facebook post of 27 February 2013 says so in one sentence: “In September we released our custom audiences tool to let marketers reach their current customers with relevant ads on Facebook.” No Meta page read for this entry gives an exact day, so the month is the most precise date this page can give.

What was the original Custom Audiences tool?

Facebook’s 2012 annual report calls it “a feature that allows marketers to find their offline customers among Facebook users”. It listed Custom Audiences next to ads in News Feed and Facebook Exchange (FBX) as the new ways it gave marketers to reach people that year.

On 30 September 2012 Facebook published a post about “new advertising features”, naming Facebook Exchange, Custom Audiences and Datalogix. It said it had designed its versions of the features “with your privacy in mind” and pointed to a Privacy Page.

Meta’s current help describes the same idea: you supply information about people you already know and Meta matches it to profiles. If you hold a customer list, this is the audience type it feeds.

What changed in February 2013?

On 27 February 2013 Facebook expanded the tool “to allow businesses to work with select third parties, Datalogix, Epsilon, Acxiom, and BlueKai”. Its example was an auto dealer that wants to tailor an offer to people likely to be in the market for a new car, which it said many businesses already do with third-party companies. Facebook said this would be done “in ways that are consistent with our commitments to protect people’s privacy”.

That post does not say whether those four partners are available today. Look at the audience options inside your own Ads Manager before you plan around any partner data.

The 2013 annual report describes Custom Audiences as a way to target people “such as those who have previously expressed interest in that particular marketer”.

How do customer list audiences work now?

Meta’s help centre describes a customer list custom audience as one made from “identifiers” you collected, such as email, phone number and address. Meta hashes the information before use and matches it with profiles, so you can advertise to those customers on Facebook, Instagram and Meta Audience Network. Meta says it does not learn any new identifying information about your customers from hashed data.

To create one, open Audiences in Ads Manager, choose Create audience, then Custom audience, then Customer list, and follow the steps to prepare and map your list. After the upload you can see a match score out of ten, and Meta marks a list “outdated” when it has not been updated for over 30 days.

You can edit a list at any time. Meta says the change also updates ad sets and lookalike audiences that use it, without resetting the learning phase.

Which rules apply to your customer data?

Meta’s help centre says you should review its terms to make sure you have a legal basis for the information you upload. Under the GDPR, advertisers act as the data controller for any list they upload. A list cannot be named, include or be based on prohibited information, such as social security numbers, health information or financial information.

Before you upload, confirm you have the right to use each list. For the step by step, see the entry on how to create a custom audience.

FAQ

Is there an exact launch day for Custom Audiences?

Not on the Meta pages read for this entry. Facebook’s February 2013 post says September, its 30 September 2012 post says features arrived “in the last few weeks”, and its 2012 annual report says 2012. Read together they point to September 2012, and none gives a day.

Does Meta see my customers’ raw email addresses?

Meta’s help centre says it hashes your customer information before it uses it, and describes hashing as a method that turns identifiers into randomized code that cannot be reversed. It also says Meta does not learn new identifying information about your customers from hashed data.

Can I build a lookalike audience from a customer list?

Yes. Meta’s help centre says you can create a lookalike audience after creating a customer list audience. The exception is a list you set to “only exclusions”, which Meta says cannot be changed later and cannot be used to make a lookalike audience.