Advertising on Facebook has changed drastically over the past three years. Unfortunately, these changes came as reactionary updates, giving companies little time to prepare for the Facebook update and change their active Facebook and Instagram campaigns.
Cambridge Analytica
The most infamous incident was the Cambridge Analytica scandal. The British political consulting firm used Facebook users’ personal data during the 2016 Presidential Election. A federal investigation is ongoing. Facebook has updated virtually every policy to try to protect data and has banned thousands of third-party apps, which were collecting data.
While Cambridge Analyitca had an impact on Facebook’s advertising policies, it primarily made headlines due to its involvement in the presidential election. The federal investigation also confirmed decade-old conspiracies that Facebook was harvesting and selling personal information. However, a recent update already had a bigger effect on Facebook advertising, yet only a few are talking about it.
Housing And Gender Discrimination
The Fair Housing Act banned housing discrimination nationwide. 51 years later, the Housing Rights Initiative, a nonprofit who monitors housing companies, has filed a civil lawsuit against housing companies for discrimination for denying older users from seeing their Facebook ads. Adweek tells us the lawsuit names Bozzuto Management, Fairfield Residential, Fore Property, Greystar Real Estate Partners, Kettler, The Tower Companies, and Woods Partners.
A year ago, Facebook came under fire for allowing over 13 companies as big as Uber to advertise employment opportunities to men only. This practice was banned in 1973. So, why are so many companies breaking the law? Facebook allowed them to. We’ve worked with Facebook’s advertising platform for the better part of the past decade. We can confirm preventing people from seeing specific ads was a promoted feature.
Facebook Update: Their Solution Is Your Problem
Facebook responded to the fiascos with a feature called Special Ad Categories. In short, it restricts most of the targeting capabilities for ads promoting housing, employment, and credit opportunities. While there are laws protecting discrimination in these industries, the latest update isn’t fully fleshed out. The cure is worse than the disease.
Facebook’s ad platform conducts a series of checks before publishing a submitted ad. People are not reviewing the ads; computers are, at least in the initial check. The algorithm does a keyword search, which has been in place for years to stop obscene material from being promoted. However, the search will flag all ads with any of the designated words or phrases. If your ad is flagged to designate a Special Ad Category, targeting by gender or age is no longer available, and your location targeting is severely limited.
Testing The Facebook Update
Companies looking to promote a blog on Generation Z financial tips would naturally want to get in front of Generation Z. But, the word “financial” flags the algorithm. Companies have two choices. They can switch the ad to a Special Category, even though the ad isn’t an offer for credit. Or, they can request for a manual review by a Facebook team member. We can also confirm they’re not much better than the algorithm. We’ve tested this specific ad topic and financial topics that are not offers of credit. All of them went to review and needed to designate a Special Ad Category.
While you can’t pre-measure relevance, it’s assumed this blog would gain the best results when served to Generation Z. However, the update serves the ad to everyone. This can be bad for the budget and is one of the reasons advertisers typically do not like to broadly target. An ad for the Super Bowl can be broadly targeted, but an ad for mortgage refinancing shouldn’t. Why? Roughly 33% of Millennials own homes; whereas, 82% of Generation X are homeowners.
The Workaround
As of now, there is little anyone can do to bypass the Special Ad Category’s limited targeting. Companies could focus their Facebook and Instagram advertising toward general products like checking and savings accounts, however we know some general products may not be competitive or attractive. If your company really shines from an offer tailored to a now-protected demographic, here’s what you can do.
Combine market research with the remaining targeting options still available through Special Ad Categories. This entails interests targeting, ensuring ads run on preferred platforms and correct times, publishing strong creative geared toward your desired audience, and optimizing the budget. Continuing to tweak other minor nuances will still give you the biggest bang for your buck.
We know not everyone has the time or staff to manage social media campaigns. We can handle as much or as little as you need us to, including general presence, audience research, ad platform placement, audience targeting, scheduling, creative copy and visuals, budget optimization, tracking, and analytics reporting. If you’re looking for help, we’re ready to assist.