"Meta's targeting is completely broken. It's showing my ads to 65-year-olds!" A
By Michael Erickson Facchin ยท May 3, 2026 ยท Curated by George's Blog
"Meta's targeting is completely broken. It's showing my ads to 65-year-olds!"
A founder sent me this exact screenshot yesterday. He was furious. He sells a B2B software product aimed at 30-something tech entrepreneurs.
"Why is Meta forcing my audience age to 65+? I'm wasting my budget!" he asked me.
I told him to look closer at the fine print in his own screensh๐ฐ๐ต: "๐๐'๐๐ ๐๐๐๐โ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ ๐กโ๐๐ ๐ ๐ ๐๐ก๐ก๐๐๐๐ ๐คโ๐๐ ๐๐ก'๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฆ ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐." "You aren't wasting budget," I said. "You're getting out of your own way."
It's a story I hear all the time from advertisers stuck in 2018. They want to meticulously control every demographic, interest, and behavior.
But here is the harsh reality of modern Meta Ads: ๐๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐๐ง๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐๐ซ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ ๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐ก๐ฆ ๐๐ง๐ฒ๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐.
When you constrain Meta's machine learning with hyper-specific age brackets or layered interests, your CPMs skyrocket and your campaigns choke. The platform uses Audience Expansion and Advantage+ because it has trillions of data points. It knows who is actually going to convert better than your hypothetical buyer persona document does.
Today, your creative does the targeting. Not your audience toggles.
If your ad copy and video speak directly to a young tech founder's specific pain points, that's who will stop scrolling. And if a 65-year-old happens to see it, click it, and buy your software? You shouldn't care what year they were born.
Stop micromanaging the machine.
Give it a broad audience, identify a pain they're experiencing, and put a damn good solution directly in front of their faces.