Can You Still Target by Health or Religion on Meta?

Detailed Targeting once offered options that referenced causes, organizations or public figures tied to health, religion and similar topics. Meta’s developer post of 8 December 2021 said that, starting 19 January 2022, it would remove options that relate to topics people may perceive as sensitive. The post lists no replacement options, so this page names none; check what Ads Manager offers today before you plan an audience for a charity, a clinic or a faith-based group.

What did these targeting options cover?

Meta’s developer post named five areas: health, race or ethnicity, political affiliation, religion and sexual orientation. Its examples were the health causes “Lung cancer awareness”, “World Diabetes Day” and “Chemotherapy”; the sexual orientation options “same-sex marriage” and “LGBT culture”; and the religious options “Catholic Church” and “Jewish holidays”. It also listed political beliefs, social issues, causes, organizations and figures.

If an old guide tells you to pick one of them, check what Ads Manager offers today instead of assuming it is still there.

When did the options go away?

Meta’s developer post is dated 8 December 2021. It gives 19 January 2022 as the start of the removal.

The post adds a timeline. In the vast majority of cases, campaigns could keep delivering to impacted options until 17 March 2022. Until then, campaign-level edits such as name and spending limit could be made without changing targeting, though some ad set changes could update it, and an ad set paused before that date could not be turned back on without updating its targeting. After 17 March 2022, edits to impacted campaigns were not possible at campaign, ad set or ad level. Meta said the Marketing API would then return error code 100 with subcode 18157520 for removed options.

The same post says Meta was also removing options that were not widely used because they may be redundant or too granular. For API users, Meta pointed to its Deprecated targeting terms API and Targeting Status API to find affected ad sets. If an old script still sends a removed option, expect that error and rebuild the audience.

Why did Meta remove them?

Meta says it wanted to match people’s evolving expectations of how advertisers may reach them, and to address feedback from civil rights experts, policymakers and other stakeholders about preventing advertisers from abusing targeting options. Meta’s post also says the decision to remove these options was not easy. The practical point is that a campaign built on one of these interests needs a different audience source.

What does Meta say to do instead?

Meta’s developer post names no replacement targeting options. It tells advertisers to update the detailed targeting of affected ad sets and publish the changes before 17 March 2022, so that campaigns or ad sets aren’t paused or have terms automatically removed. For API users, it says that where a specific term is not flagged, you may have to recreate the ad set.

That date has passed, so check which Detailed Targeting options Ads Manager offers today. If you hold your own data, such as a customer list or website visitors, you could build a custom audience from it and test it on a small budget before you scale.

FAQ

Can nonprofits and causes still reach supporters?

Meta’s developer post says personalized advertising enables non-profits, social causes and organizations to reach the people most likely to support them. It also says the decision to remove these options was not easy. The post lists no replacement options.

Did the removal cover only health and religion?

No. Meta’s list also covered race or ethnicity, political affiliation and sexual orientation, including options about political beliefs, social issues, causes, organizations and figures. The developer post adds that Meta was removing little-used options that were redundant or too granular.

Did Meta give advance notice?

Yes. Meta’s developer post is dated 8 December 2021 and says it was providing advance notice so advertisers could plan their campaigns, although no immediate action was required at that time. It recommended that API partners use the Deprecated targeting terms API from 19 January 2022 to get the list of ad sets that target affected objects.