The news: Meta is moving forward with its ad automation ambitions by introducing new options to consolidate ad targeting, per a company announcement.

• Meta’s Ads Manager page noted that “some detailed targeting options have been combined,” and that ads using now-unavailable options no longer deliver starting in January.
• The change will shift advertising on Meta away from its manual roots and toward a future where advertising is led by Meta’s AI systems, which the company cited as a key driver of increased ad conversions in its Q2 earnings.

The shift toward automation: Meta is following a broader trend away from manual targeting and toward a fully automated system. Companies like Google, The Trade Desk, Disney, and Criteo are turning to AI-powered advertising tools to meet marketers’ demands and address the often-overwhelming manual targeting landscape.