Win With Paid Ads – Episode #98: Is Meta About to Take Away Your Control?

Host: Ashley Brock
Release Date: December 11, 2025

Episode Overview

In this episode, Ashley Brock addresses recent concerns and rumors about Meta (Facebook and Instagram) phasing out manual audience targeting for paid ads. She clarifies what's changing, shares her extensive experience with both manual and automated (Meta Advantage/AI) ad strategies, and gives practical advice for business owners on how to adapt—while emphasizing the importance of diversification in paid advertising platforms.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Is Manual Targeting on Meta Really Gone?

• Ashley describes a client’s panic after hearing at an event that manual targeting was "completely gone" on Meta.
• Clarification: Manual targeting is NOT gone. It's just "constantly hidden" as Meta emphasizes automated options.
• Ashley’s reassurance: "I have good news for you. It's not gone, it's still there. Now they hide it. They constantly hide it." (00:34)

2. Manual vs. Advantage (Automated) Targeting

• Manual Targeting:
  • Gives advertisers more control over who sees their ads.
  • Ashley claims her method for manual targeting results in better outcomes 90–95% of the time.
  • "What I have found is, is 90 to 95% of the time, the manual targeting actually performs better." (01:24)
• Meta Advantage (Automated/AI Targeting):
  • Consists of four "buckets":
    1. Budget (let Meta optimize spend),
    2. Audience (let Meta pick who sees ads),
    3. Placement (let Meta pick where ads run),
    4. Creative (let Meta pick which ad gets shown).
  • Manual and automated approaches can be blended for best results.
  • Ashley is "not against advantage," but finds it rarely beats carefully crafted manual strategies, especially for service-based businesses.

3. When Does Automated (Advantage) Targeting Work?

• Works better for "product-based businesses."
• Ashley does have "some service-based business" clients who've seen success with automated, but "90% of the time" it underperforms manual methods.

4. What Meta Wants (and Why It Matters)

• Meta pushes automated options because they make it easier for more people to spend confidently (and often inefficiently).
• Meta wants marketers to "spend more money and they're like, let me figure it out for you."
• Letting Meta choose the audience almost always performs worst, based on Ashley's recent hands-on experience:
  • "For all of the events that I've ran this past year, all of them, that audience of letting Meta figure it out has performed the worst." (03:05)

5. Meta’s New ‘Andromeda’ Update: Focus on Creatives

• Breaking news: Meta’s “Andromeda” update pushes for more creative variations.
• Benefit: Meta wants advertisers to "give us more creatives,...more messages so that we can match the messages and creatives better to the people in the audience that you're selecting." (04:32)
• Ashley aligns with this, regardless of targeting method—always provide plenty of creative options.
• "If they're going to say we're going to customize the creative more, by all means, let's give them more creative to customize." (05:02)

6. What If Manual Targeting Goes Away? Business Implications

• Meta gets 97% of revenue from ads.
  • If manual targeting vanished (and thus results tanked), advertisers would "pull their money from Meta."
• Platforms are forced to keep performing ads, or risk losing ad spend to competitors:
  • "If that didn’t work and the performance was worse, people would pull their money from Meta." (06:51)
• Even if manual targeting disappears temporarily, Ashley predicts Meta would quickly bring it back if user spend dropped.

7. Ashley’s Main Advice: Diversify Your Platforms

• Don’t panic if Meta changes targeting options.
• Have working strategies on platforms like Pinterest, TikTok, LinkedIn, YouTube, Google, Amazon, etc.
• "I want you to be able to diversify where you’re spending your money on your ads…so you don’t have a heart attack and panic when Meta makes a change." (08:09)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On client panic:
  "She was freaking out…someone just told me that manual targeting on Meta is completely gone. She was like, what do we do?" (00:34)
• On her track record:
  "I have been doing ads all day, every day for over a decade…no one else has experienced the volume of revenue passing through in the different channels that I've worked with." (01:15)
• On why Meta won't kill manual targeting outright:
  "People can change their mind in business any day and every day, and they're gonna respond to behavior and performance…So I truly believe, even if it went away, like, it'd actually be a good thing. It'd probably challenge you to have another revenue or, like, lead source for your business." (07:29 – 07:52)
• Diversification pep talk:
  "You need to be like, hey, we're going to be good. And also just know that they're a business too. The last thing they want is to see a bunch of revenue flocking and flying away." (08:21)
• On misinformation:
  "If someone has told you differently, they likely are not meaning to intentionally not give you factual information. They likely just don't have the depth of skill to know how to actually still manipulate the system…to target manually." (09:05)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:34: Client’s rumor-induced panic and the reality about manual targeting
• 01:24: Explanation of manual vs. automated targeting; personal method overview
• 02:55: Automated (Advantage) targeting and when it works
• 03:05: Recent results—advantage “audience” performs worst
• 04:32: Meta’s Andromeda update—focus on more creatives
• 05:45: How Ashley keeps her agency methods versatile and updated
• 06:51: Business consequences if manual targeting disappears
• 08:09: Ashley’s main advice on diversification and platform security
• 09:05: Clarifying misinformation about manual targeting

Conclusion

Ashley Brock’s message is clear: Don’t believe the hype that manual audience targeting is dead on Meta. While Meta continues to push its automated “Advantage” options, smart advertisers—especially those with advanced skills—can still gain more control and better results with manual targeting, particularly for service businesses. Meta needs to keep advertisers happy and performing to maintain revenue, so the odds are against any drastic, permanent removal of manual targeting.

Ultimately, brands should always diversify their paid advertising strategies across multiple platforms to avoid being at the mercy of one tech giant’s changing algorithms or feature sets.

Next Episode Preview:
Sneak peek into Ashley and her husband’s short term rental project and their unique ad strategy for this new venture, including team roles and behind-the-scenes insights.

Call to Action:
If you want to go deeper, Ashley encourages signing up for the "Win With Paid Ads" challenge for hands-on training and feedback.