«Basic advertising» Meta will not use advanced targeting and is intended to compensate for losses caused by data privacy problems.

Meta, Facebook’s parent company, is reportedly in the process of developing a new type of ad that will rely on less user data for targeting.

Instead of relying on personal data, ads will be measured using basic metrics such as engagement and video views.

Originally reported by Business Insider, the product is said to be aimed at advertisers looking to increase brand awareness and build product perception.

Pricing has not been announced and so far, Meta, Facebook’s parent company, has not commented.

The change appears to be driven by changes in privacy
Meta’s ad revenue has been on a choppy footing since the release of iOS 14 in September 2020, which allowed iPhone users to opt out of collecting their data. The feature is expected to cost Facebook nearly $16 billion in lost revenue in 2022 alone.

Last April, Meta’s Results Call CEO Mark Zuckerberg discussed concerns about what this could mean for the social media giant in the first quarter of 2022 and addressed the strategy moving forward.

“We’re managing the headwinds from signal loss… That means a growing first-party awareness that people are interested in making it easier for people to interact with businesses on our apps – whether it’s completing purchases on Facebook or Instagram or messaging businesses on WhatsApp or Messenger,” Zuckerberg said by phone. “It also means making sure we’re building the best privacy-enhancing technology to provide accurate targeting and measurement for advertisers, even when purchases aren’t happening in our apps.”

Quality ads can counterbalance the lack of granular targeting
If Basic Ads does rely on engagement and video views, as reported, it could mean that ad reach and performance will depend on the degree of engagement it generates.

Ads that get a high level of participation will theoretically reach a broader audience. However, this exposure will be offset to some extent by viewers who will never become customers.