Meta Is Updating Detailed Targeting Options And Removing Sensitive Topics Targeting

author image Written by: Rabije Gashi Corluka Categories - Paid Ads, Social Media

Meta will remove some of the ad targeting options related to sensitive topics on January 19.

The goal is to meet people’s growing expectations about how advertisers can reach them, as well as to address comments from civil rights experts and policymakers on the importance of preventing advertisers from abusing the targeting options Meta provides.

On January 19, they will be removing some Detailed Targeting options on topics that people find sensitive, such as targeting options referencing causes, organizations or public figures that relate to health, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, etc. Some of the examples they provided were:

Health causes: ‘Lung cancer awareness’, ‘World Diabetes Day’
Sexual orientation: ‘ LGBT culture’, ‘Same-sex marriage’
Religious practices: ‘Jewish holidays’, ‘Catholic church’
Political beliefs, social issues, organizations and figures

Why Is This Important?

If you use Facebook for advertising, you won’t be able to rely on targeting options that relate to sensitive topics. This means you will have to change your ad strategy when planning new campaigns. However, the existing campaigns you have will be able to run for additional 60 days after the new update. Some edits in the campaign (such as spending limit or name) will be possible to make until March 17, without affecting the targeting. But, if you pause the campaign before March 17, you will be unable to turn it back on without updating the targeting.

Additionally, Meta will remove targeting options that have not been widely used because of their overall redundancy. They didn’t mention anything specific.

Tags - Paid Ads, Social Media, Facebook Ads, Meta

Rabije Gashi Corluka

Rabije always enjoyed finding different angles to a story, so it’s not surprising her curiosity influenced a move to a new continent, widening her perspective. She enjoys hearing people's stories and learning about different cultures and places - but most of all, she loves putting her thoughts on a piece of paper. Her love for writing led to her studying Journalism and PR, but she actually became a storyteller during her radio-hosting era. Now, she uses her skills, experience, and love for writing to help your brand stand out.

Other Changes Coming to Facebook

Apple recently released iOS 14 and IDFA, which means all Apple users will have to consent to cross-app tracking. Advertisers will also have to provide two short lines of text to explain this to users.

Facebook has spoken out against the change, arguing that it would hurt publisher revenues.

“We know this may severely impact publishers’ ability to monetize through Audience Network on iOS 14, and, despite our best efforts, may render Audience Network so ineffective on iOS 14 that it may not make sense to offer it on iOS 14 in the future,” said Facebook.

Facebook later made the decision to adopt Apple’s SKAdNetwork API, but stated it would not implement Private Click Measurement (PCM), with the reasoning that it doesn’t capture the complexities of the user journey. Facebook instead decided to create Aggregated Event Measurement (AEM) to measure conversion events on iOS.

Revenue Forecasts For 2021

With the increase in ad prices driving revenue growth, Facebook expects that revenue will either continue to increase or remain stable throughout 2021.

“We expect second quarter 2021 year-over-year total revenue growth to remain stable or modestly accelerate relative to the growth rate in the first quarter of 2021 as we lap slower growth related to the pandemic during the second quarter of 2020,” said Facebook’s CFO Sheryl Sandberg.

“It’s also on us to keep making the case that personalized advertising is good for people and businesses and to better explain how it works so that people realize that personalized ads can be privacy-protected.”