From Audience Buying To Meta’s “Less Personalised Ads” and the Evolving Landscape of B2B Advertising: A FunnelFuel Perspective

In response to the EU’s stringent Digital Markets Act (DMA), Meta has introduced a new advertising model: “Less Personalised Ads.” This third option allows users to access Meta’s services for free while viewing contextual ads, rather than ads tailored to their entire activity history. This move reflects a major shift for digital platforms and underscores a key trend in the advertising landscape: the growing need to balance personalisation with regulatory compliance.

As Chief Product Officer at FunnelFuel, a B2B marketing leader, I see this change as emblematic of the evolving role that data, consent, and contextual advertising are set to play in our field. For B2B marketers, Meta’s approach opens a dialogue on how we might navigate similar challenges in the realm of business targeting, ensuring compliance while delivering impactful results for our clients. The topic of privacy has always felt like an evasive one; a topic where our industry plays by the letter of the law and not the sentiment behind the laws. The reality is we can’t and shouldn’t try to out-run privacy, and we live and operate in an increasingly privacy aware world. Data needs to be used transparently and fairly, and clearly the social media giants are no longer exempt from this. Whilst programmatic felt like it was under attack through the long months spent talking about cookie deprecation, social media platforms had felt insulated – sat on huge data businesses, with complete user consent linked to email logins providing a cookieless platform to continue dominating from. This feels like a rare set-back which impacts social over the open internet.

What Meta’s Shift Means for B2B Advertising and will other major platforms like LinkedIn have to follow suit?

Meta’s updated model aligns with the DMA’s mandate for gatekeepers to offer an ad experience that respects user consent without forcing a “pay or consent” model. By introducing this third option, Meta is setting a new precedent – and it’s not a precedent which is likely to work for B2B advertisers who rely on granular data for campaign effectiveness. My first sense is that contextual ads in the social context could work for some broad B2C businesses, which target users based on user demographics and real-time session content, likely providing a cheaper alternative to in-depth behavioural profiling while still reaching relevant audiences. I’m struggling to see this working in B2B.

The major problem with contextual and social media advertising, is that context is precisely what is missing. B2B marketers aren’t running ads on Meta to be next to cute cats, viral videos and pictures from Nana’s 90th birthday – they are there because of the audience not the environment. Reducing the ability to isolate and target the B2B audiences within these platforms will undoubtedly reduce their appeal to B2B marketers. So what about platforms like LinkedIn, where the environment is better suited to the B2B marketer?

While Meta’s shift to “Less Personalised Ads” is significant, B2B marketers may be more concerned about the potential ramifications if LinkedIn were to follow suit. As the leading B2B social platform, LinkedIn’s data-driven ad targeting is essential for many B2B strategies, and any move toward less personalised or contextual-only advertising could have a much larger impact on B2B advertisers than Meta’s changes. Though LinkedIn’s primary focus on professional audiences might seem to insulate it somewhat, the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) applies to all “gatekeepers,” requiring them to offer users ad options with reduced personal data processing. LinkedIn has already taken steps to comply with recent EU regulations, such as disabling targeting based on sensitive data categories, and may need to consider offering a similar “less personalised” ad model in response to increasing regulatory pressures. If LinkedIn does follow Meta’s lead, it could reshape B2B advertising approaches, potentially driving marketers to adapt their strategies to a more contextual, compliance-focused model. And this is where I start to get excited, because we focus on executing world class B2B campaigns in the premium, open internet.

For B2B focussed companies like FunnelFuel, this raises the question: Could contextual advertising become a more viable model for B2B marketing, especially in heavily regulated markets? As businesses increasingly turn to data-driven insights, we must also explore innovative ways to deliver relevance without over-reliance on personal data. When it comes to trying to achieve this, the premium contextual internet offers significantly more contextual value then any social media, including LinkedIn.

Programmatic has been talking about reverting to earlier [programmatic era] buying models like contextual, the de facto early days methods of targeting digital ads before audience buying fully took over. This has been the case since the inception of the GDPR legal framework and the impending deprecation of cookies drove the same narrative again. However the absolute game changer could be the loss of audience in social walled gardens – meaning that the sort of specialist contextual B2B targeting enabled in the FunnelFuel buying platform could meet a whole new world of resonance.

A Shift Toward ‘Audience-Lite’ And Contextual Advertising: Implications for Product and Strategy

FunnelFuel’s commitment to open-source technology, building accretive and unique technology layers around best in class platforms and open source technology, alongside full data transparency is well-suited to a landscape that values privacy and compliance. We’re continuously exploring ways to enhance our targeting capabilities by incorporating diverse identifiers, such as business IP addresses, locations, unique identifiers (ID5, UID etc) and hashed emails, without compromising privacy.

Meta’s new model encourages us to consider similar moves in product strategy, integrating more contextual data sources to inform more compliant, competitive B2B advertising options. This becomes more pertinent in web browsers where 3rd party cookies have been removed and the strategy plays nicely to one of the great benefits, in my opinion, of running B2B advertising on the open internet – environment. The open internet is full of premium, trusted media sources which directly aid B2B research journeys, with a plethora of sites dedicated to the tightest niches within B2B imaginable. Social cannot compete here. The right tactics, where a vendor owns their contextual environments gives the opportunity to capture the ‘silent intent’ of companies who have not yet gotten far enough down their research journey to start landing on vendor websites, but where they have gotten far enough to be forming vendor opinions.
We already offer a brilliant contextual targeting solution, and are increasingly aligning this with broader and less sensitive segments like firmographic data in order to identify which companies are reading about which deep-B2B topics. This is more privacy aware but equally is incredibly powerful for B2B marketers.

Furthermore, contextual advertising offers a path forward where business intelligence can still guide targeting decisions. For instance, targeting based on industry context, business location, and real-time content consumption could allow us to build a bridge between privacy compliance and high-impact B2B marketing. By focusing on more universally accessible data, we can preserve both effectiveness and trust in our advertising strategies.

The DMA’s Competitive Focus vs. GDPR’s Privacy Mandate: Implications for B2B

It’s worth noting that the DMA’s requirements differ from GDPR. While GDPR focuses broadly on privacy, DMA’s mandate centres on competition, specifically addressing the influence of gatekeepers like Meta who wield enormous data resources. This distinction is essential for B2B marketers to understand as they shape their strategies.

Non-gatekeeper businesses aren’t required to adopt similar measures under GDPR. The DMA specifically addresses how gatekeepers can leverage data, which, as Meta points out, could alter the competitive landscape for digital advertising. For FunnelFuel, this distinction highlights the need to be vigilant about compliance while remaining agile and innovative in leveraging data.

The Opportunity for Innovation in B2B Marketing

As the advertising ecosystem shifts, B2B marketers have a unique opportunity to set themselves apart. By prioritising compliance and embracing new models like contextual advertising, and better embracing non-gatekeeper environments like premium programmatic B2B advertising, we can build trust and drive value without solely relying on detailed personal data. FunnelFuel is positioned to navigate this evolving landscape, enhancing our data infrastructure with privacy in mind while keeping a strong focus on delivering meaningful insights to our clients.

Ultimately, Meta’s response to the DMA may be a precursor of broader changes in digital advertising, but it’s not a one-size-fits-all approach for the industry. As we adopt and adapt new strategies, we’re focused on crafting a data ecosystem that serves both our clients and their audiences effectively—proof that compliance and innovation can indeed go hand-in-hand.