What are Meta's rules for housing, employment and credit ads?
Meta requires a special ad category for housing, employment, and financial products and services ads in the US and, for some ads, Canada and parts of Europe. It limits targeting: ages generally 18 to 65+, all genders, no postcode targeting or exclusions. Financial products and services replaced the Credit category and is required for US-linked campaigns from 21 January 2025.
These three kinds of ads share one rulebook because they decide who gets a home, a job or a loan. Meta’s discriminatory practices policy says such opportunities must be open to everyone, regardless of attributes like race, sex or age, and that many places have laws on the same point. In practice, you declare the campaign in a special ad category when you create it, and Meta then limits or removes several targeting options.
Has the Credit category changed?
Yes. Meta’s Help Center states that the Credit special ad category has been replaced by the Financial products and services category. From 21 January 2025, that category is required for financial products and services campaigns from advertisers based in the United States or showing ads to audiences in the United States. Meta says its policy for credit ads, a subset of financial products and services, does not change and still applies to ads reaching the US, Canada or certain parts of Europe.
When do you have to choose a special ad category?
Meta says you need to choose one during campaign creation if you are an advertiser in the United States, if your audience is in the United States, or if you are running credit ads in, or to audiences in, the US, Canada or listed European countries and territories. The European list includes the UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Norway and the Nordic and Baltic states, among others. If you meet these conditions and skip the category, your ad may be rejected.
Which ads count as housing, employment or financial?
| Category | Meta’s examples of covered ads | Meta’s examples of ads not covered |
|---|---|---|
| Housing | Sale, rental or temporary housing listings; homeowners, renters and mortgage insurance; mortgage loans; real estate services | Hotels, resorts, retreats, homeownership tips |
| Employment | Full-time and part-time jobs, internships, apprenticeships, job fairs, job boards | General career or workplace advice not tied to a listing |
| Credit (US, Canada, parts of Europe) | Credit cards, loans, long-term financing, debt recovery, debt consolidation | Gift cards, store rewards |
| Other financial products (US) | Bank accounts, prepaid cards, investment services, insurance, payment services, 0% APR instalments including buy now, pay later | Business-to-business-only products, tax and accounting services |
Meta notes that these examples are not comprehensive and are not legal advice.
What targeting do you lose?
For advertisers based in the US, and for ads shown in the US, Canada and the listed European locations, Meta limits or removes these options:
- Age is generally fixed at 18 to 65+, though credit advertisers in Europe can pick a different range to meet local requirements.
- Audiences must include all genders.
- Location can be a country, region, state, province or city, but not a ZIP or postal code, and you cannot exclude locations.
- City, address or pin-drop locations get a wider radius; Meta’s example adds 15 miles around Seattle’s city centre.
- Some demographic, behaviour and interest options are unavailable, and you cannot exclude detailed targeting.
- Lookalike audiences and saved audiences are limited or unavailable, and Advantage+ lookalike is unavailable.
How do you set up one of these campaigns?
- Decide whether your ad promotes or links to a housing, employment or financial offer, using Meta’s examples above.
- Choose the matching special ad category while you create the campaign in Ads Manager.
- Build the audience within the remaining options; a saved audience you reuse is updated to meet the restrictions.
- Certify compliance with the discriminatory practices policy if Meta asks, before your ads can be approved.
FAQ
Does choosing a special ad category slow down ad review?
No. Meta states that choosing a special ad category does not affect how long it takes to review your ads. What the category changes is the set of audience options available to you, such as age, gender, postcode and exclusion targeting.
Does a special ad category mean only job seekers or home buyers see my ad?
No. Meta describes the restrictions as a preventive measure to protect people from discriminatory practices, and says your audience options do not become limited to only people interested in housing, employment or financial products and services opportunities.
Do these rules apply outside the US, Canada and Europe?
The special ad category requirement is tied to where you are based and where the ad is shown: the United States, Canada and a listed set of European locations. The wider discriminatory practices policy, which bans using targeting to wrongfully reach or exclude groups, applies to ads across all Meta technologies.
Sources
- About ads for housing, employment or financial products and services (Meta, checked 2 Oct 2026)
- About audiences for housing, employment or financial products and services campaigns (Meta, checked 2 Oct 2026)
- About Meta's advertising policy on discriminatory practices (Meta, checked 2 Oct 2026)
- Meta Advertising Standards (Meta, checked 2 Oct 2026)
Drafted with AI and checked claim by claim against the pages linked under Sources. Found a mistake? Tell us via the corrections policy.