Facebook might be pushing ahead with its plan to create a more interoperable messaging experience across Messenger and Instagram, but that doesn’t mean advertising will follow.
The company has just announced changes to its Account Center which will mean users that don’t explicitly link their Instagram and Facebook profiles will be treated as two separate people by advertisers.
Previously, Facebook counted someone with multiple Facebook and Instagram accounts as one person for ads if they linked their accounts or if the accounts were registered to the same email.
In a privacy-focused move, Facebook will now be asking users to opt-in before it links these accounts.
“This update aligns with trends of offering people more control over how their information is used for ads and is consistent with evolving advertising, privacy and regulatory environments,” said Facebook VP of Product Marketing, Ads Graham Mudd.
Accounts that have already been linked in the Facebook Accounts Center will continue to be treated as a single user.
And while Facebook’s users will no doubt appreciate the added layer of control over their disaster, the change could come with some teething pains for advertisers.
“As we roll out this methodology update, advertisers may see an impact to campaign planning estimates and performance reporting for unique metrics,” Mudd said.
“There will be increases in pre-campaign estimates such as estimated audience size, but for most campaigns we do not believe this will have a substantial impact on reported campaign reach.”
In September last year, Instagram announced a new integration with Messenger which now allows users to send messages across the different apps.
