For several years now, Meta (formerly Facebook) has had to deal with multiple scandals over the management of user private data. This pushed Meta to take a number of steps to protect users. Among those measures: the removal of certain targeting interests on Facebook Ads, specifically those touching on topics Meta considers sensitive.
What is interest-based targeting?
There are several ways to reach a consumer on Facebook Ads, one of which is interest-based targeting. Facebook offers a range of interest categories that advertisers can select. The Facebook algorithm then targets users who have shown an interest in one of those elements. Below is a non-exhaustive list of the different interests available.
That said, Meta announced last December that certain targeting options for so-called "sensitive" audiences would be removed starting January 2022. With this move, Meta said it wants to align with user expectations around privacy and prevent misuse by advertisers.
Which interests were removed?
The removal affects interests that were rarely used by advertisers, duplicate interests, and interests tied to topics Meta considers sensitive.
More specifically, the removed interests are those linked to organizations, public figures, and social initiatives related to the following topics: religious or political affiliation, ethnicity, sexual orientation, race, or health.
For example, "LGBT movement," which had previously been an advanced targeting option on Facebook Ads, is no longer available to advertisers.
Starting January 19, 2022, Meta made available to each advertiser a list of their campaigns affected by the interest removal. Ad sets using the affected interests continued to run normally until March 17, 2022.
Since that date, when one of the affected interests is used to target or exclude an audience, Facebook has paused or limited the delivery of the ad set. To resume delivery or save changes to that ad set, the affected interest must be replaced or removed.
Which advertisers are affected by the Facebook Ads interest removal, and what are the alternatives?
As explained above, the removal of interests on Facebook Ads concerns topics Meta considers sensitive. As a result, not all advertisers are necessarily affected by these targeting changes.
That said, all advertisers using targeting options related to medicine, ethnicity, or political topics should be aware of these changes.
If you are affected by the removal of interests on Facebook Ads, several options are available to target users:
- Use the remaining targeting options
- Use broad targeting, which means running a broad campaign based on gender, age, and location.
- Use custom audiences, which lets you reach Facebook users who have already interacted with your business in some way.
- Use lookalike audiences, which are people whose behavior resembles a source audience, such as existing customers or newsletter subscribers.
- Use targeting expansion, which extends your ad delivery beyond the selected criteria when the Facebook algorithm believes it can improve performance.
Keep in mind, however, that 97% of Meta's revenue comes from advertising. Meta therefore cannot afford to penalize advertisers too heavily. There will always be an alternative way to reach users, even those who belong to one of the targeting segments affected by the Facebook Ads interest removal.
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