Meta is removing ad placement controls: here’s how to get your creative ready

If you like choosing exactly where your Meta ads appear, that’s about to get harder.

Ads expert Jon Loomer spotted that Meta has started warning some advertisers that placement choices are changing. Until now, you could pick your platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Audience Network, Threads) and specific spots within them, like Facebook search results or Reels in-stream ads. Soon those detailed options will go. Meta is also removing the ability to exclude whole platforms.

In practice, that means advertising everywhere through Advantage+ placements, Meta’s AI-powered system. It fits Meta’s long-term plan. Mark Zuckerberg said last year that eventually an advertiser will add a URL and a budget, and AI will do the rest. We think that’s still a way off, given some of the choices the AI makes today.

This will sting if you’ve built campaigns around exclusions. We have clients who only advertise on Instagram, and others who deliberately avoid Audience Network or Threads. We often exclude Facebook Marketplace ourselves, because its bargain-hunting feel doesn’t suit every brand.

The change is still rolling out, so it may not end up absolute. Either way, now’s the time to start testing Advantage+ placements and watching how they affect your budget and reach.

The bigger job is creative. Your ads now need to work across lots of sizes without anything important getting cropped. A McDonald’s ad shows the risk nicely: the logo sat at the top of the 9:16 Reels and Stories version and was cut off in the feed version. Keep your key message and branding in the centre of the frame, well away from the edges. You can still upload variations when one size doesn’t work.

Nothing to lose sleep over, but worth adjusting now. Which placements will you miss most?