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Microtargeting for Political Campaigns

Political Microtargeting occurs when our DSP deems an audience as too hyper-targeted.

What is Political Microtargeting?
Political microtargeting happens when our DSP (Demand-Side Platform) detects that an audience is too narrowly targeted — for example, an ad group targeting only a very small geographic area like one or two zip codes.

How the DSP Evaluates This:
The DSP reviews targeting at the ad group level. If the combined audience and geographic size is too small, it considers this microtargeting and will disable the ad group to comply with platform policies.

Why Does the DSP Enforce This Policy?

  • We’re an independent platform committed to an open marketplace of ideas, supporting political advertising as a key part of political discussion.

  • Unlike broad mass media ads, online political ads can address real issues without resorting to broad stereotypes.

  • We balance relevance with privacy and prevent misuse of microtargeting that can infringe on individuals’ privacy.

  • As a neutral platform, we want to ensure diverse opinions and fair political debate.

What Happens with Device ID (DID) Campaigns?

  • DID and DID Address Match campaigns already target very niche audiences.

  • If a very small geographic area is layered onto these campaigns, the DSP will likely flag and shut down the ad group for microtargeting unless changes are made quickly.

  • The DSP may even block the ad group from going live if it detects microtargeting.

Audience Size Requirements:

  • National Elections: Target audience must be larger than 25,000 individuals.

  • State and Local Elections: Target audience must be larger than 10,000 individuals.

  • Any targeting refinements cannot reduce the audience below 50% of these minimums (i.e., 12,500 for national, 5,000 for local).

Recommendations to Avoid Microtargeting Issues:

  • Use Display Basic, Competitive, or Dominant campaign types with demographic targeting (age 18+) in the behavioral ad group to broaden the audience.

  • If your geo-targeting is very narrow (like 1-2 zip codes), switch to run-of-network targeting to reach a larger audience and get your ad group live.

  • If you must run a Device ID campaign, add behavioral data segments to expand the audience size and increase your geographic targeting significantly.

  • Note: Even with added behavioral data, very small geo-targeting on DID campaigns might still fail to meet the platform’s thresholds and get shut down.