Meta Launches New Feature for Special Ad Categorization

A special ad category on Meta is a classification for ads that promote content in specific areas such as Credit, Employment, Housing, or Politics. These categories have legal restrictions related to the targeting of people, and advertisers must declare their ad as a special ad category to comply with these restrictions. This limits targeting options to ensure the ad remains compliant with the rules and laws.

To determine if an ad falls under a special ad category, Meta is introducing a new feature where advertisers can click a button to Categorize Your Ads within the special ad category section of a campaign. This feature presents several screens of questions about what is being promoted. Advertisers go through each category and indicate whether they’re promoting any of the items that may qualify or not for a special ad category designation.

The purpose of the Categorize Your Ads feature on Meta is to assist advertisers in identifying whether their ads require a special ad category designation. This tool helps clarify the gray areas and ensures that advertisers do not inadvertently break rules and laws by incorrectly categorizing their ads. It involves answering a series of questions to help determine the correct classification of the ads.

It is not explicitly clear if Meta will use the answers provided through the Categorize Your Ads feature as a signal to review ad compliance. However, there have been issues with Meta's automated systems incorrectly flagging ads as requiring a Special Ad Category. It is possible that Meta could use the answers from this tool to determine whether the ads are correctly categorized and ensure they are safe from being incorrectly flagged.