Facebook’s move into dating won’t include ads.
The world’s largest social network last week said that it will launch a dating service that will allow the 200 million Facebook users on the service who classify themselves as “single” to find a partner. Speaking to developers at his company’s F8 conference, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that the dating service will focus on “real long-term relationships” and not just “hookups.”
But in light of Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica scandal, which saw data on millions of its users unwittingly transferred to third-parties, you might be wondering whether any of your activity on the dating site—content that might be best-suited for the two people involved in the possible relationship—would be used by the social network.
To allay those fears, Facebook toldRecode in a statement over the weekend that its service will be ad-free. Additionally, Facebook made clear that none of the data associated with the dating profile or information on what you might be doing or who you might be seeking through the service will be used to target ads. The data also won’t be used to target dating service users with ads on other Facebook services, like Instagram or WhatsApp.
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Regardless, you’ll have some waiting to do. Facebook said that it plans to begin testing the service at some point this year and use those tests to make a final determination on when the dating service should launch.
When the service does launch, Facebook is promising a variety of features, including recommendations that use your interests and location, among other factors, to pair you with someone you might like. The service will also support groups and events for meeting up with other singles.