Meta has had a busy few weeks, and unlike some platform updates that are more “nice to know” than “need to know,” a couple of these changes go straight to how you'll be setting up and running campaigns from here. Let's get into it.
Placement controls are gone — automation is taking over
The biggest change: Meta has removed advertisers' ability to manually exclude specific ad placements. Previously, you could choose to keep your ads off certain apps or placements you didn't want associated with your brand. That control has now been stripped back in favour of Meta's automated targeting system deciding placement on your behalf.
For a lot of advertisers, this is going to sting a little. Placement exclusions were a genuine brand safety tool. Meta's argument is that its automated system optimises for performance better than manual choices typically do, and for pure performance campaigns, that's often true. But for brand-conscious advertisers, this is a real shift in how much control you have, and it's worth revisiting your campaign settings to understand exactly where your ads can now show up.
A new AI assistant aimed squarely at small business owners
On a more welcome note, Meta has rolled out an AI-powered assistant designed specifically for small business advertisers. The tool pulls together analytics from multiple sources so SMB owners can optimise their platform strategy without needing a dedicated analyst on staff. For the huge number of Australian small businesses running their own Meta ads without agency support, this is a meaningful step.
If you're managing your own campaigns in-house, it's worth having a look at this when it appears in your Ads Manager — even if you don't fully hand over strategy to it, it can be a useful sense-check against your own read of performance.
Instagram wants better captions, not just better creative
Instagram has also pushed out fresh guidance on captions, encouraging creators and brands to focus on storytelling and genuinely useful information rather than treating captions as an afterthought to the visual. This lines up with a broader trend we've been seeing across social platforms all year: the algorithm increasingly favours content that keeps people reading and engaging with the full post, not just the image or video.
Meta AI comes to Mac
Meta AI has also expanded to Mac desktop, bringing the same features available on mobile into a proper desktop workflow. For social and marketing teams who do most of their planning and content work at a desk rather than on a phone, this closes an annoying gap.
A bigger question mark: AI spend under scrutiny
Zooming out, there's been reporting suggesting Meta may have far larger unreported AI infrastructure obligations than previously disclosed — with figures floated as high as US$700 billion. We'd treat this one with a healthy dose of caution until it's more thoroughly verified and reported on by financial media, but it's a storyline worth keeping an eye on. Meta's ad platform is increasingly powered by AI under the hood, so how the company funds and sustains that AI build-out isn't just a finance story.
What we'd recommend doing this week
Two things are genuinely actionable right now. First, check your placement settings and understand what's changed for your account. Second, if you haven't reviewed your caption strategy in a while, do it alongside your next content batch.
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Written by
Nic Franklin
Founder
Nic leads strategy across every Franklin account, connecting paid media, CRM and sales execution into one revenue system. He has spent over a decade building performance programs for Australian property, health and hospitality brands.
