The Facebook Special Ad Category is a new classification for ads that link to housing, credit, job opportunities or social issues such as elections, politics, or social causes. Facebook created these categories as a way of enforcing their policies against discriminatory practices in advertising. This is one of Facebook’s ways of ‘walking the walk’ when it comes to preventing discrimination based on demographic characteristics, such as age and gender.
It’s likely you’re already experiencing the effects of Special Ad Categories if your clients’ content covers topics such as sustainability, employment or housing. If not, you can expect to soon, as Facebook has ramped up their advertising review system. All ads are reviewed by Facebook before they are served to your specified audience, through a combination of artificial intelligence (AI) and human review. Facebook checks the ad’s creative, copy and positioning, against their Community Standards and Advertising Policies. They may also consider the content on an ad’s landing page.
Sustainability is a hot-topic right now and as brands make more effort to communicate their green credentials they may well face a struggle to receive approval on sustainability-focused content, as this now falls within the ‘Social Issues’ category. Similarly, if brand content covers employment be it internships, professional certification programmes, you will most certainly feel the effects of the rigorous review process. Housing content which mentions property listings, home insurance or mortgages and any content which references credit services will also face more stringent review and restrictions.
Submitting your ad as a Special Category means it will automatically be subject to the below restrictions:
Big changes, we know. However, the writing was on the wall. From January 19th 2022, Facebook have begun to remove other detailed targeting options on all ads that relate to what may be perceived as sensitive topics, such as options referencing causes, organizations, religion, health, sexual orientation etc. These changes will take full effect on the platform from March 17th 2022.
So far, we have seen the following categories removed from audience targeting with more still yet to be removed: Veganism, Business Owner, Food Lover Magazine, Being Vegan, Healthy Eating, Café Americano, Tesco Ireland.
Targeting will continue to become broader over time, from an optimistic viewpoint, this update presents some great opportunities. So don’t panic.
There’s an array of things that you can do to find the solution which best fits the individual needs of your client:
Special ad categories may need careful navigation at the minute, but undoubtedly it will drive change and diversification. Seize the opportunity to do different.
Keep an eye on our social channels and website for future digital update news and insider knowledge.
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