Meta Phases Out Automated Ads in Favor of Advantage+

Meta is phasing out Automated Ads in favor of the Advantage+ feature, which offers improved automation, targeting, and performance optimization.

Meta is gradually retiring its “Automated Ads” option, which is expected to be phased out next year, shifting advertisers toward more advanced Advantage+ ad suite. This change, slated for rollout over the next several months, marks the end of Automated Ads as a standalone choice in Ads Manager.

Automated Ads Background

Automated Ads were initially created to help advertisers optimize campaigns with minimal effort, particularly amid Apple’s app tracking changes. Advertisers can launch campaigns directly from their Facebook or Instagram page by answering simple questions about their objectives.

Meta will then automatically optimize targeting and creative elements using images from the Page posts.

This approach was a hybrid between boosting a post and launching a full campaign, guiding users step-by-step without requiring in-depth setup knowledge.

Shift to Advantage+

With Meta’s AI-powered Advantage+ tools becoming the core campaign optimization engine, Automated Ads no longer fit the platform’s vision. Advantage+ provides similar automation but with enhanced accuracy, simplicity, and deeper targeting capabilities.

Meta envisions a future where you can create an entire campaign with just your business objective and minimal input, as CEO Mark Zuckerberg described earlier this year:

“We’re going to get to a point where you’re a business, you come to us, you tell us what your objective is, you connect to your bank account, you don’t need any creative, you don’t need any targeting demographic, you don’t need any measurement, except to be able to read the results that we spit out. I think that’s going to be huge, I think it is a redefinition of the category of advertising.”

This ambition essentially renders Automated Ads obsolete as Advantage+ moves toward a one-click campaign generation powered by sophisticated AI.

Transition Plan for Advertisers

Meta has begun phasing out Automated Ads, so some users may already have seen the option removed. However, any existing Automated Ad campaigns will continue to run as usual until completion.

Meta will guide former Automated Ads users toward adopting Advantage+ campaigns to benefit from improved automation and performance. The shift reflects Meta’s broader effort to streamline manual campaign setup and enhance the effectiveness of AI-driven optimization.

While some advertisers appreciate the control of traditional campaigns, Advantage+ promises time savings, more intelligent budget allocation, and better real-time targeting without the complexity of manual adjustments.

Bottom Line

For marketers navigating Meta’s evolving ad ecosystem, embracing Advantage+ will be crucial in leveraging AI-powered campaign management and achieving better results with less effort.