What is a special ad category and when do I need one?

Meta requires ads about certain sensitive topics to be declared as a special ad category. This applies to ads related to credit, employment, housing, social issues, elections, or politics.

What declaring it does

Declaring the category limits some targeting options, such as age, gender, and location radius, in order to comply with anti-discrimination rules. This is a Meta requirement designed to prevent unfair targeting in these sensitive areas.

How Mark handles it

If your ads fall into one of these areas, tell Mark and it will set the special ad category when building the campaign. If they do not, you can leave it off. When you are unsure, describe what you are advertising and Mark will flag whether a category likely applies.

Why it matters

Getting this right avoids rejections and keeps your ads compliant. If a special-category ad is built without the declaration, Meta may reject it, so it is worth mentioning up front when your offer touches any of these topics.