What Meta Is Actually Doing
Meta has been quietly removing the idea of “optional AI tools” and is now baking Advantage+ into the default ad creation flow. So, I thought I’d do a quick post about it for small business owners.
So yes this is not a toggle, not a special workflow.
It’s just there and on default.
You’re essentially opting out, not opting in.
Advantage+ is being folded into three core areas:
- Budgeting
- Audience targeting
- Placements
Plus, there’s a shiny “Opportunity Score” telling you how “well-optimised” your campaign is according to… well… Meta.
Why Meta Wants This
Meta has two motives:
1. Their AI is legitimately improving
According to Meta themselves (so take with a pinch of Maldon):
- 4x more efficient at driving performance gains
- 2x better at transferring learnings to new campaigns
- Faster due to more compute power and the data firehose of 3 billion users
In other words the machine can now guess human behaviour a lot better than any human media buyer fiddling with ten interest groups.
2. It keeps advertisers spending more, with fewer complaints
When Meta controls the variables, results tend to improve.
When results improve, advertisers stop yelling.
When advertisers stop yelling, they spend more.
It’s strategic and it’s working, at least for Meta lol.
Critical Analysis of What’s Going On
1. “Better results” does not mean “better for your business”
Meta’s definition of success is ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) and CPMs (Cost per thousand impressions).
Yours is likely profit and customer lifetime value.
Those aren’t always aligned.
Advantage+ tends to:
- chase cheap wins
- hit warm audiences harder than you realise
- over-index on clicky people, not buy-y people
You might see great results on paper while burning out your best audiences quietly in the background.
2.Meta Black box = less learning for small businesses
The more automated the system, the less you learn about:
- your real audience
- your real message-market fit
- what actually drives results
This is fine for brands with million-dollar budgets.
For small businesses, learning is half the value of advertising.
Advantage+ can make you dependent, not more strategic.
3. Meta benefits more than you do
When Advantage+ controls:
- who sees your ads
- when they see them
- which placements are used
- how your budget is allocated
Meta optimises for one thing
their own inventory utilisation.
Of course they’ll claim it’s “most efficient for you”.
But efficient for whom?
4. Meta’s Opportunity Score is a nudge tool, not a truth meter
This score is a behavioural design trick.
It’s there to push you toward turning on:
- Advantage+ audience
- Advantage+ placements
- Automated budget
- Dynamic ads
You don’t get 100 because your strategy is terrible.
You get 100 because you’re doing what Meta wants.
Big difference.
5. You’re giving up targeting nuance that still matters
Interests aren’t dead.
Demographics aren’t dead.
Custom intent signals still matter.
Meta auto-targeting can work brilliantly, but it’s not magical.
It thrives on big data, not small budgets.
Where Advantage+ actually shines
Let’s give credit where it’s due:
- Ecom with lots of products
- Retargeting warm audiences
- Broad top-of-funnel when you have creative variety
- High-frequency advertisers with enough data
It really is excellent at scaling when things are already working.
Where Advantage+ is risky
- New brands with no audience data
- Niche products
- Local businesses
- High-ticket services
- Anything where poor-quality leads cost big dollars
These advertisers often need tighter targeting, not looser.
The Big Picture
Meta’s automation is powerful, but it’s built for Meta’s needs first and your goals second.
It will absolutely improve performance on average, but averages flatten out the nuances that small businesses rely on.
Human strategy still matters.
Creative still matters more than ever.
And Meta’s AI is a prediction machine, not a mind reader.
Use it, but don’t hand over the keys and walk away. Need help email or contact me here.
