Advantage+ placements is Meta's setting for letting its system decide where your ads appear. Instead of choosing Instagram Stories or Facebook Feed yourself, you make every eligible placement available and Meta shifts delivery towards the ones producing results at the lowest cost.
Where your ads can run
- Facebook: Feed, Stories, Reels, Marketplace, video feeds, search results and more.
- Instagram: Feed, Stories, Reels, Explore, profile feeds and search results.
- Messenger: placements inside the Messenger app.
- Audience Network: ads in third-party apps outside Meta's own.
- Threads: included for eligible campaigns since Meta rolled out Threads ads worldwide.
The list changes as Meta adds and retires surfaces, so check the placements section of your ad set for what's currently included.
Why Meta recommends it
More placements give Meta more ways to find the next buyer. The system can deliver each impression wherever a conversion looks likeliest and cheapest, which can lower your overall CPM and cost per result. It's also one of the settings that keep an Advantage+ sales campaign in its fully automated setup.
When to exclude placements
- Brand safety. If certain third-party apps or content types are unacceptable for your brand, use Meta's brand safety controls, such as inventory filters and block lists, or remove Audience Network.
- Accidental clicks. In Traffic campaigns, some placements produce clicks that rarely become real visits. Compare landing page views, not just link clicks.
- Creative that doesn't fit. A square image won't look native in full-screen Reels or Stories. The better fix is supplying vertical assets. See our guide to Meta ad sizes.
- Proven waste. If a placement keeps spending with no purchases over a meaningful period, exclude it in a test and compare.
How to check placement performance
- In Ads Manager, break results down by placement using the Breakdown menu's delivery options.
- Compare cost per purchase, not CPM or CTR. Cheap impressions that never convert aren't a bargain.
- Remember that placements work together. A placement with a high cost per purchase may still introduce people who later buy elsewhere, so test exclusions rather than assuming.
Give each placement family a native asset: 4:5 or 1:1 for feeds, 9:16 for Stories and Reels. Meta's asset customisation lets you set these per placement within one ad. If you pull placement numbers into a spreadsheet, the CPM calculator helps compare their costs.
Frequently asked questions
Should I use Advantage+ placements or manual placements?
Start with Advantage+ placements for most sales campaigns, because more inventory gives Meta more ways to find buyers at a lower cost. Switch to manual placements when you have a specific reason, such as brand safety, missing creative formats or clear evidence that a placement wastes spend.
How do I exclude Audience Network from my Meta ads?
In the ad set, switch placements from Advantage+ to manual and untick Audience Network. That takes the ad set out of Meta's full placement automation, so compare results before and after. For content concerns, Meta's brand safety controls, such as block lists, may be a narrower fix.
Are Threads ads included in Advantage+ placements?
Meta has included Threads in Advantage+ placements for eligible campaigns since it rolled out Threads ads worldwide. You can remove it by switching to manual placements. Check your ad set's placement list, as eligibility varies by objective and format.
