When I logged in to check my Facebook page yesterday, I received a notification from Facebook informing me that I can now see what ads people are running. I was like wow, it’s finally happening, according to Facebook, it wants to make advertising more transparent on its platforms by allowing you to view the ads that a Page is showing, even if you aren’t in the intended audience. This feature is currently being tested only in Canada.

According to the release from Facebook “This effort aligns with Facebook’s election integrity work in Canada that’s already underway. Testing this feature in one market allows us to learn about the various ways an entire population uses the feature at scale. Because of this, there’s no method to request access to this feature.”

Now no one will be able to see your targeting nor your budget, nor your current ad spends, all information I wouldn’t mind getting. However, it does show you all the ads that a page is running, I have already started creeping on some pages. If you’re an advertiser operating outside of Canada but targeting people in Canada, only people in Canada will able to view ads that you’re running in Canada.

To view a Page’s ads:

  1. Go to the Page that you want to view ads from and click … below the Page’s cover photo.
  2. Select View Ads.

If there are no ads available to view, the Page may:

  • Not currently have any ads
  • Not be showing ads in your country
  • Not have ads available for the device you’re currently on

While I have been able to see ads from a page on the desktop, I haven’t been able to on my mobile, I am sure I can but haven’t figured out exactly where to click, but if it’s there, you can bet your bottom dollar I will find it.

Read the release from Facebook Here