Meta is restricting data access in its Business Tools. Custom audiences and ad sets may be affected or paused. Advertisers need to adapt their tracking and reporting strategies.
Meta has informed businesses of upcoming changes to its Business Tools that may impact how you use the platforms for advertising.
Key Changes
According to an email sent to advertisers, Meta plans to automatically restrict certain data, including parts of URLs and custom parameters.
The company states this reduces the potential for sharing information prohibited by its Business Tools Terms.
Potential Effects On Advertisers
The email outlines several ways these changes may affect businesses:
Custom audiences may require adjustments if they use rules that include data that will be restricted.
Some ad sets may be paused if custom audiences decrease or can no longer be updated.
Events Manager monitoring will change, with restricted data no longer being included in reports.
Meta’s Recommendations
For advertisers whose ads are paused, Meta recommends either switching the custom audience or creating a new one with standard parameters.
The company advises businesses to check their Events Manager Overview to see which data these changes will affect.
Industry Response
Navah Hopkins, Optmyzr Brand Evangelist, commented on LinkedIn about the announcement.
Hopkins noted that the update indicates Meta is prioritizing privacy and that the ability to report and target based on ad interactions may be affected.
She states:
“Really important update on Meta ads: not only will data be restricted, ads with hyper targeted UTMs might be paused!
This is a critical reminder that Meta (Facebook/Instagram/WhatsApp) is taking privacy very seriously and our ability to report and target based on seeing/clicking ads is no longer a guaranteed state.”