What behavioral data does Facebook use for ad targeting?

Facebook utilizes a variety of behavioral data points to enhance ad targeting capabilities. These data points help advertisers reach specific audiences based on their behaviors, interests, interactions, and demographics. Here are some key types of behavioral data that Facebook uses for ad targeting:

1. **Interests and Likes**: Facebook gathers information about users' interests and the pages they like. This includes activities such as liking pages related to specific topics, brands, celebrities, or hobbies.

2. **Engagement**: Facebook tracks users' interactions with content on the platform, such as liking posts, sharing content, commenting, clicking on ads, and viewing videos. Engagement behavior helps indicate user preferences and interests.

3. **Purchase Behavior**: Facebook collects data on users' purchasing behaviors, both online and offline. This includes information about past purchases, types of products purchased, purchase frequency, and spending habits.

4. **Device Usage**: Information about the devices users use to access Facebook can also be used for targeting. This includes targeting users based on whether they use mobile phones, tablets, or desktop computers.

5. **App Usage**: Facebook gathers data about users' app usage and interactions within Facebook-owned apps (like Instagram and Messenger). This includes behaviors such as app installations, in-app purchases, and interactions with app content.

6. **Travel Preferences**: Facebook collects data related to users' travel preferences and behaviors. This can include travel-related searches, bookings, destinations visited, and travel-related interactions on the platform.

7. **Life Events**: Facebook tracks users' life events, such as getting married, having a baby, moving to a new city, graduating, or other significant milestones. Advertisers can target users based on these life events.

8. **Offline Interactions**: Facebook integrates offline data sources (such as loyalty card data or offline purchase behavior) to enhance ad targeting capabilities. This allows advertisers to reach users based on their offline behaviors and interactions.

9. **Third-party Data**: Facebook may also use third-party data sources to enrich its understanding of user behaviors and interests. This can include data from data brokers or other external sources that provide insights into consumer behaviors.

10. **Lookalike Audiences**: While not strictly behavioral data, Facebook allows advertisers to create lookalike audiences based on existing customer lists or custom audiences. Lookalike audiences include users who share similar characteristics and behaviors with the seed audience, helping advertisers expand their reach to new potential customers.

Facebook combines these behavioral data points with demographic information and contextual signals to create a comprehensive profile of users' interests and behaviors. Advertisers can then use this information to target ads more effectively, reaching audiences who are likely to be interested in their products or services based on their demonstrated behaviors and interactions.