We have seen that Facebook is becoming more restrictive on how/who you can target on an advertising level, and they have recently restricted another layer of targeting. As of February 20, 2023, advertisers are not allowed to target people under the age of 18 globally, under 20 in Thailand and under 21 in Indonesia. However, you are still able to reach teens but you can only target by age and through broad location. You are not able to target by gender, zip code, or locations smaller than cities.
Facebook is recommending if any advertisers are running campaigns that are targeting this demographic and geography, they should update the ad sets before April 7, 2023. This will prevent campaigns from being paused or Facebook automatically adjusting the targeting to only target adults.
Due to this demographic restriction, there are a few other campaign options that will no longer be available to target your campaigns to teens.
- Advantage + catalog ads
- Optimization goals for ad delivery
- Bid strategy: Cost per result goal or ROAS goal
- Link clicks, CPC, Page likes, Thru Play or 2-second continuous video views
- Specific placements: Facebook group feed, Facebook Business Explore, Facebook in-stream video (desktop), Facebook Search Results, Messenger Sponsored Messages, Facebook Instant Articles, Audience Network Native, Banner and Interstitial, Audience Network Rewarded Video and Audience Network In-Stream Video
If your campaign is still targeting teens, there are a few placements that are still available:
- Facebook Marketplace, Facebook Feed, Facebook right column, Facebook Stories, Facebook in-stream video (mobile), Instagram Feed, Instagram Explore, Instagram Stories, Facebook Reels, and Instagram Reels
To prepare for these changes, Facebook recommends updating each ad set that could be affected by this change by April 7, 2023. Mentioned above, advertisers are still able to reach teens, you will just need to remove targeting or campaign options that are no longer available (listed above) and adjust your ad sets to only use the available options.
Written by Senior Media Specialist, Rylee Palys
