Meta is eliminating the possibility for advertisers to target teenagers based on gender on Facebook and Instagram. Reportedly, it is a part of an overall revamp to tighten the company's advertising policy for underage users.
New Ad Regulation
Based on a corporate blog post published on Tuesday, Jan. 10, Facebook and Instagram will no longer utilize user activity to target advertising targeting teenagers.
These platforms would no longer use users' interactions with individual posts or pages to determine which advertisements are shown to adolescents, according to Wall Street Journal (WSJ).
These changes will take effect in February and will allow marketers to target teenagers based on demographic information such as age and geography.
In the press release, Meta acknowledged, "We recognize that teens aren't necessarily as equipped as adults to make decisions about how their online data is used for advertising, particularly when it comes to showing them products available to purchase."
To prevent marketers from snooping on minors based on their use of other services, Meta formerly disabled such tracking, including the Pages they like on Facebook or Instagram.
And even before, promotions for alcoholic beverages, financial services, and diet and fitness programs targeting minors were off-limits.
Facebook and Instagram have relied heavily on ad revenue from teens for quite some time, as per Bloomberg. However, Facebook has had a tougher time wooing this group due to increased competition from other sites, such as Google's YouTube and ByteDance's TikTok.
Ads Practices
Meta is changing its advertising practices in response to growing criticism from European authorities.
Meta cannot use its contracts with Facebook and Instagram users to rationalize serving them advertising based on their online activities, according to a ruling made last week by the Irish Data Protection Commission.
Meta was fined 390 million euros ($414 million) by the Irish Data Protection Commission for breaking EU privacy regulations, claiming that such adverts are required to complete customer contracts. Meta has stated its intention to appeal the verdict and the associated penalty.
Housing Ads
Meta also revealed Monday, Jan. 9, that it has started integrating technologies meant to enhance the equity of housing ads presented to Facebook users.
In 2021, the company settled a probe by US federal regulators who claimed discrimination on the basis of race, gender, and other characteristics in the company's online ad tactics.
The new Variance Reduction System is equipped with machine learning technology to target better those who will be most receptive to the company's housing advertisements.
