Facebook Custom Audience Size Estimates Will Now Show As “Not Available”

TLDR; Facebook Custom Audience sizes will now appear as “Not Available” (as of December 22, 2017). This now means Facebook advertisers can no longer see the Estimated Reach or Potential Reach for the following Facebook Custom Audiences:

Custom Audiences (from a customer file)
Offline conversions Custom Audiences (and Offline Conversion API)
Website and mobile app Custom Audiences if using advanced matching (via the API)
Offline event data in Facebook Analytics
Website or mobile app Custom Audiences that do not include customer data and engagement

“[Facebook is] investigating solutions to restore these reach estimates in [their] interfaces”.

The Death of Facebook Custom Audience Reach Estimates

Facebook removed the ability for it’s advertisers to preview reach estimates for Facebook Custom Audiences on the 22nd of December, 2017.

On that same day, I was building a facebook ads funnel for one of my clients and noticed that all of my Facebook Custom Audience reach estimates were no longer working, and instead, were showing as “Not Available.”

I then contacted Facebook Ad Support, assuming it must have been an account level issue or bug.

Sadly, I was wrong…

Facebook Officially Removes Estimated Reach from Custom Audiences

I explained to the Facebook Ad Support representative that my Facebook Custom Audience Estimated Reach was now showing as “Not Available” where I had previously been able to see reach estimates.

The Facebook representative then informed me of the following:

Upon checking, it seems that our advertising principles, we’re constantly looking to improve the quality and security of our advertising platforms. After identifying a technical issue with reach estimation for Custom Audiences that could potentially allow misuse of the functionality, we’re temporarily removing the ability to see audience sizes or potential reach estimates for newly created or edited Custom Audiences in Ads Manager and Power Editor, followed by the Ads API by December 22.

Specifically, we are removing reach estimates for: Custom Audiences from a customer file Offline conversions Custom Audiences (and Offline Conversion API) Website and mobile app Custom Audiences if using advanced matching (via the API) Offline event data in Facebook Analytics Website or mobile app Custom Audiences that do not include customer data and engagement Custom Audiences are unaffected by this update.

Transcript from Support Chat:

Are all Facebook Custom Audiences affected by this update?

No, not all Facebook Custom Audiences will be affected by the “Not Working” update. Specifically, Custom Audiences created inside of Facebook will remain unaffected. Continue reading for more details…

Please note that you will still be able to create Custom Audiences, as well as ads using any type of Custom Audiences, on our platform. Ads delivery and reporting will remain unaffected by this change. Additionally, access to all other data in Facebook Analytics will remain unaffected by this change.

Transcript from Support Chat:

Are Facebook Custom Audience reach estimates gone forever?

No. Based on the information I’ve collected at this point in time, this will not be a permanent change – but rather a temporary solution.

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