Meta prohibits advertising targeting teens by gender

Facebook parent company Meta restricts ads targeting teenagers. The new restrictions will no longer allow advertisers to target their ads based on the gender of young people.

In the future, advertisers should no longer be able to use the gender of teenagers to target advertising messages on Facebook and Instagram. The Facebook parent company Meta gave that in one go blog post known.

Meta advertising: These restrictions apply immediately

In the future, advertisers should only be able to address teenagers based on their age and location. “We are aware that young people are not necessarily as well able as adults to make decisions about how their online data is used for advertising,” said Meta.

This is particularly the case when it comes to buying products. That is why the social media group is further restricting the existing targeting options for young people.

Restrictions in response to outside criticism

how Bloomberg reports teenagers have been an important target group for Facebook and Instagram for years. However, due to the increasing competition from services such as YouTube and TikTok, it is more difficult for Meta to reach young users.

Also, the new restriction on advertisers appears to be a response to voices from politicians and regulators. Because they criticize the effects of social media on the mental health of young people.

Meta Ads: More control for teenagers

In addition to the new rules for advertisers, Meta is also introducing more youth-specific controls and resources. In this way, young users should learn how advertising works and why certain marketing content is displayed to them.

Also, starting in March, teens will have more options to manage the types of ads they see across channels with Ad Topic Controls. They should be able to specifically control and, if necessary, hide ads that appear.

Before the current limitation, Meta already had preventedthat advertisers can target young people based on their Facebook and Instagram activities. According to the blog post, the updated settings should take effect from February 2023.

Also interesting: