Facebook algorithm in your hands: what changes for campaigns

Starting in October 2026, every Facebook user can tell the algorithm, in their own words, what they want to see in the Feed and in Reels, and the algorithm adapts in real time. If you run ad campaigns, this is no minor detail: it changes how your ads are delivered and to whom.

Does this Facebook update really affect me, or is it just an update for users?

It directly concerns anyone advertising on Facebook: when users explicitly declare their interests, the algorithm changes how it decides who sees your ads.

On October 13, 2026, Meta announced a new feature called “Your Algorithm”: a dedicated space, accessible from the three-dot menu on every post, where each user can write in their own words the topics they want to see more or less of in the Feed and in Reels. The algorithm picks up these instructions and updates in real time, even within the same browsing session.

For an ads manager or a marketing manager, the right question is: if users can tell the algorithm what they want, how does the delivery of my ads change? The short answer: the creative (the image, video and text of the ad) becomes even more decisive than before in determining who sees your ad.

How exactly does Facebook's new algorithm work?

The system uses large language models (LLMs) to interpret preferences users write in natural language and combine them with the behavioral signals already collected.

Until yesterday, Facebook's algorithm inferred your interests from what you did: likes, comments, watch time, shares. Thousands of implicit signals. Now a direct channel is added: users write what they want, and the system understands the meaning, not just the words, thanks to LLMs (Large Language Models, AI models trained on huge amounts of text, like those behind the best-known chatbots).

The practical result is an algorithm that combines two layers: what users do (behavior) and what users say they want (declared intent). For an advertiser, this means an ad relevant to the topic a user has declared is more likely to be shown, even if that user has never engaged with similar content before.

What the data says: do Meta campaigns really perform better with AI in ranking?

Meta's own tests show concrete gains in CTR and conversions, though still modest: the trend is clear and accelerating.

These aren't future promises. Meta has already tested earlier versions of this system on Instagram. Meta's Adaptive Ranking Model, launched on Instagram in Q4 2025, delivered a +5% increase in click-through rate (CTR) and +3% in ad conversions for targeted users, according to the Meta Engineering Blog. A later pilot of the Meta Generative Recommender in Q2 2026 added another +1% in in-app conversions on Instagram, as reported by DOJO AI based on Meta's July 29, 2026 Earnings Call.

These numbers look small, but across billions of impressions they translate into millions of additional conversions. And the direction is clear: every iteration of the system improves results.

Keep in mind that this data comes from Instagram, but the system is now arriving on Facebook. The logic is the same: the more closely a creative matches the user's preferences, the more efficiently the algorithm distributes it. As explained by Foxwell Digital after the Meta Marketing Summit 2026, Meta's Andromeda system uses 10,000 times more computing power in the content retrieval stage to read the pixels, video and audio signals of every creative. The practical effect, in a nutshell: "the creative now does the targeting".

What has changed in Meta targeting in recent months, even before this update?

Since March 31, 2026, Meta has removed detailed targeting exclusions and made Advantage+ Audience the default method: your parameters become suggestions, not constraints.

To understand the impact of the new feature on the algorithm, you need to see it in the broader context of Meta's changes over recent months. Three moves in particular have already redrawn the rules of the game for anyone advertising on Facebook and Instagram.

The first: since March 31, 2026, as documented by Edge Digital, Meta has eliminated detailed targeting exclusions (specific interests and behaviors) from active campaigns. Advantage+ Audience, Meta's automated system for finding the best audience, has become the default method. Your targeting inputs become "suggestions" that the algorithm can ignore or expand.

The second: from June 2026, data sent through the Meta Pixel or Conversions API (the system that passes users' actions on your site to Meta) feeds not only ad targeting but also Feed ranking, Reels recommendations and Meta AI. The option to fully disconnect off-platform activity has been removed, according to Surfside PPC.

The third, in October 2026, adds users' declared preferences as an explicit signal in ranking. Taken together, these three moves describe a system where the algorithm has ever more autonomy and the creative is the main lever left in the advertiser's hands.

How many Facebook users are there in Italy, and is it still worth investing in the platform?

Facebook has about 28.5 million users reachable with ads in Italy in 2026: it's still the second platform by monthly users, with a 76% penetration of the online population.

Before deciding whether to adapt your strategy, it's worth looking at the Italian market numbers. According to Digital 2026 by We Are Social and Meltwater, Facebook reaches about 28.5 million users in Italy with ads, with a 76.1% penetration of the online population. That's a 2.6% drop from 2025 (when it was 29.3 million), but the platform remains an essential mass channel for most Italian SMEs.

The Osservatorio Social Media by Vincenzo Cosenza (Audicom data, September 2025) confirms Facebook as the second social network by monthly users in Italy, with 34.7 million users, behind only YouTube.

What changes in practice for those running Facebook campaigns: who does what?

The ads manager's job shifts from defining the audience to building the creative: that's where delivery is won or lost.

With Advantage+ Audience as the default and user preferences in ranking, the time an ads manager spends building detailed audience segments is worth less than before. It's not useless, since targeting suggestions are still a helpful input, but it's no longer the main lever. The main lever is the creative.

This also applies if you run Facebook campaigns as part of a broader Marketing and performance ADV strategy: the brief to the creative team must include information on the target audience's interests and intent, not just demographics.

Three concrete scenarios: what changes for an e-commerce, a professional firm, and a manufacturing company?

The impact varies widely by type of company and audience: businesses selling to end consumers have more to gain right away.

Let's look at three typical cases to see how to apply these changes. The numbers are illustrative: they show the reasoning and are not real client data.

What rules and risks should you watch with the new system?

GDPR and other European regulations limit certain types of personalization. Meta itself has stated that EU rules are already increasing the number of users who restrict targeting.

The GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation, the EU privacy law) and the Digital Markets Act continue to limit some forms of targeting in Europe. In its Q1 2026 Form 10-Q, Meta explicitly stated that European regulations have already increased the number of users who choose to limit certain types of targeting.

This means that in Italy, part of the audience you can reach with ads has already reduced the amount of data it shares with Meta. The new declared-preferences system, based on users' voluntary choices, could paradoxically work better in Europe than behavioral inference systems, because it relies on explicit consent.

There's a real risk to manage: with Advantage+ Audience as the default and user preferences factored into ranking, it's harder to control who sees your ads. Monitoring traffic quality (not just volume) becomes essential. If you want to dig deeper into control over automated campaigns, read our analysis of how to stay in control when Google and Meta automate campaigns.

How to get started: the concrete steps to adapt your Facebook campaigns now

Start with an audit of your existing creatives and a map of your target audience's interests: these are the two levers the new system rewards most.

What mistakes are most common during this transition?

The most common mistake is to keep working on targeting as if detailed exclusions still existed, while neglecting creative quality.

If you've been running campaigns for years, you've developed sharp reflexes: segment the audience, exclude whoever isn't relevant, optimize bids by segment. Today those reflexes can get in the way, because the system no longer works like that.

A second frequent mistake is ignoring the new user-side personalization tools. Understanding how your target audience uses the “Your Algorithm” feature, and which topics they're declaring, is valuable information for steering creative production. It's also worth reading how new user algorithm controls change the opportunities for SMEs.

A third mistake is underestimating the role of first-party data. With exclusions removed and the GDPR limiting behavioral targeting, businesses with a well-structured CRM and a properly set up Conversions API start from a stronger position than those relying only on Meta's signals.

How can you tell if your campaigns are benefiting from the new system?

The signals to monitor are creative relevance, post-click traffic quality and real cost per acquisition: not CTR alone.

With the new system, a rising CTR isn't necessarily a good sign: it may mean the algorithm is showing your ad to a broader but less qualified audience. The KPIs to watch are changing. If you want to explore how Meta's new AI tools change creative and insights, read our analysis of Meta's new AI tools for ad creative and insights.

So, should you adapt your strategy right away, or can it wait?

If you wait, you leave room for competitors who adapt first: the system rewards those who produce relevant creatives and keep their tracking in order.

It's worth it if you have active Facebook campaigns with a significant budget, a catalog of products or services with clear interest angles, and a creative team able to produce variants. Every week without adapting is a missed opportunity.

A middle ground: you run Facebook campaigns occasionally or on a limited budget. It's worth updating your tracking (Conversions API) and testing a few creative variants, without overhauling everything at once.

Not yet if you use Facebook only for brand awareness campaigns with institutional creatives and have no plans to invest in creative production. In that case, the return on investment from adapting is low in the short term.

How we see it at SHM

For us, this evolution of Facebook confirms a belief that has guided our work for years: AI is the means, and people are the end. Meta's system is becoming more powerful precisely because it listens to people, to their words and intentions, instead of just observing their behavior. For an advertiser, this means that a deep understanding of the customer has never been as important as it is today.

We've worked with companies that relied entirely on manual targeting and were thrown off every time Meta changed the rules. The lesson we've learned is that real control doesn't lie in targeting parameters, which Meta can change at any time, but in creative quality and the strength of your first-party data. If you build these two foundations, you're resilient to any algorithm update.

If you're figuring out how to adapt your Meta campaigns to the new system, we can help with the strategic integration of AI into campaigns, the management of Meta campaigns optimized for the new ranking, and the structuring of first-party data to maximize signal quality. You can also dig deeper into how episodic Reels are changing content formats on Facebook by reading our analysis of Meta Series and episodic Reels.

Frequently Asked Questions

An algorithm that listens to what users say doesn't take power away from advertisers: it shifts it from targeting to creative, which is exactly where it should have been all along.