Facebook has officially rolled out its revised advertising platform for the housing industry. This is in response to the Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) complaint against Facebook alleging that Facebook\u2019s targeted advertising platform violates the Fair Housing Act, \u201cencouraging, enabling, and causing\u201d unlawful discrimination by restricting who can view housing ads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Facebook has added a new “Special Ad Category” that each housing industry advertiser must adhere to by August 26, 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Facebook has stated that “if you’re based in or intend to target audiences in the US and want to create an ad campaign that relates to credit, employment or housing, you must choose the category that best describes your ads. These are special categories for which audience selection tools are limited to help protect people on Facebook from unlawful discrimination.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Facebook does provide guidance<\/a> for Housing advertisers on what has changed with its platform. Facebook has stated previously that it was removing ad target options to \u201chelp prevent misuse.\u201d Changes to targeting options include the ability for advertisers to exclude audiences that relate to ethnicity, religion, employment, age, gender or zip code. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For housing ads, the following audience options changed or are unavailable: <\/p>\n\n\n\n Source: Facebook Housing Guidelines<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n The net result: advertisers in the housing sector will have a much smaller set of targeting options to use in their campaigns than they did previously. Advertisers will have to work harder and get more creative with their advertising in order to reach their intended audience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you have any questions about how these changes will impact your Facebook Ads, please contact us<\/a> for a consultation: 877-877-0542. <\/p>\n\n\n\nSchedule Consultation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n