What Are Advantage+ Catalog Ads (Formerly Dynamic Ads)?

Meta now calls dynamic ads Meta Advantage+ catalog ads; its help pages describe them as “previously known as dynamic ads” and “formerly known as dynamic ads”. Instead of designing one ad per product, you connect a product catalog, and Meta fills the ad with the items each person is most likely to find relevant, based on what they have viewed or done on your website or app and on Meta’s own signals.

How do Advantage+ catalog ads work?

On screen they look like ordinary single image, carousel or collection ads. The difference is that the products are chosen per person, using events from your Meta Pixel or app SDK plus Meta on-platform signals. You can run them with the Sales, App promotion, Engagement, Leads and Traffic objectives.

Meta names four uses:

• Retarget people who viewed products on your site or app but did not buy
• Prospect: reach a broad audience who has not visited or bought but may be interested
• Cross-sell related products or upsell higher-margin ones
• Use catalog creative options, such as showing product images or videos and catalog enhancements like dynamic overlays and background generation

What do you need before you start?

Meta lists these requirements:

Requirement	What Meta says
Catalog	Created in Commerce Manager, inside a business portfolio, with the products you want to advertise
Product sets	Optional subsets of the catalog to narrow which products appear
Meta Pixel	Installed on your website with the required events and parameters
Meta SDK	Needed if you have a mobile app, with the required app events
Connection	Your pixel or SDK connected to the catalog

Meta also notes that a static image ad with catalog items added is not counted as an Advantage+ catalog ad.

How do you create an Advantage+ catalog ad?

1. Go to Meta Ads Manager and click + Create.
2. Choose Sales, App promotion, Leads, Engagement or Traffic as the objective.
3. Turn on Advantage+ catalog ads and select your catalog, if you chose Sales.
4. Select the product set under Promoted products at the ad set level, for Sales.
5. Pick catalog custom audiences for retargeting, or detailed targeting for a broad audience.
6. Exclude recent purchasers under Controls, unless you are cross-selling.
7. Select Single image or video, Carousel or Collection as the ad format.
8. Add your text, which can include dynamic text from your catalog, and a call to action.
9. Select the dataset connected to your catalog in the Tracking section, then preview and publish.

Where do clicks on a product go?

People who tap a product go to that product’s link from your catalog. The website URL you enter in the ad does not override product links; it is used when someone taps the profile card in a carousel. To send people elsewhere, Meta says to select “Override catalog deep links” and enter your own links.

FAQ

Are dynamic ads and Advantage+ catalog ads the same thing?

Yes. Meta’s help pages describe Meta Advantage+ catalog ads as “previously known as dynamic ads” and “formerly known as dynamic ads”. Under the current name, Meta describes them as showing each person products from your catalog based on their interests, intent and actions, using your pixel or SDK data.

Can I add a slideshow to a catalog ad?

Yes, with the carousel format. Meta says you need multiple images for at least 100 items, or at least 20% of the items, in your product set. Slideshows play in Facebook Feed on phones, tablets and computers; on Instagram and Audience Network the items appear as static images.

What aspect ratio should catalog ads use in Instagram Stories?

Meta’s Instagram Stories design page recommends 9:16 for most Stories ads, but for Advantage+ catalog ads it recommends a 1.91:1 aspect ratio instead. Check the ad preview for each placement before you publish.