Over the last few weeks, Facebook has been in a heated battle with the ad blocking service Adblock Plus. Adblock Plus has been working on ways to allow Facebook users to block the advertising content that shows up in their news feeds and sidebars using a browser plug-in. So far, Facebook has been able to work around these attempts, so ads are still being served as usual to all users. However, if the ad blocking software succeeds (and they’ve vowed to keep trying until they do), it could mean that your potential customers who use the software won’t see your ads.

According to KissMetrics, Adblock Plus doesn’t disable your ads – it just hides them. If the ad blocker can crack Facebook’s code, your ads will still be served to users who use the ad blocking plug-in, but they’ll be invisible. This means there will be no chance those users will click on your ad and start down the path to purchase with your business. This can skew analytics like your click through rate and conversion rate, because Facebook Ads will think these users saw your ad and chose not to take an action based on it.

Facebook is working to come up with an alternative for users to prevent them from using ad blockers on the social media site. Earlier this month,  they announced updates that would allow users to modify their ad preferences. These updates allow Facebook users to choose to stop seeing certain types of ads – for example, a user can choose to no longer see ads about a specific interest, like travel.

These increased controls are a double-edged sword for Facebook Ads users. On one hand, if a potential customer chooses to stop seeing ads based on an interest you target, you’re losing out on a potential sale. On the other, this user won’t be served your ad, so you’re not wasting any time or money on someone who isn’t interested in what you have to offer, and it won’t impact your advertising statistics in the way an ad blocker would.

As an advertiser on Facebook, it’s up to you to create strong and focused ad content to keep potential shoppers interested in what you have to offer. Look at the demographics for users who follow your Facebook page to get a good idea of the ages, genders and locations to target with your ads. You can also check out Facebook’s advertising best practices to learn more tips for getting the most from your Facebook ads.

Need help with an online advertising strategy? ARI’s Digital Marketing Services team is here to help. Learn more.