Automated Targeting

Notice: Targeting section update rollout

Starting October 2025, we’ll begin rolling out an updated Targeting section in Advanced Create to make audience setup more seamless when automated targeting is enabled (default for new ad groups). Filters will be grouped into two categories:

• Audience suggestions: Signals or hints to guide automated targeting based on included Reddit audiences and custom audiences.
• Audience controls: Defined filters, like custom audience exclusions, that automated targeting will always respect.

If automated targeting is turned off, the UI will show the manual targeting setups. You can re-enable automated targeting at any time by selecting Turn on.

If automated targeting is turned off, the UI will remain unchanged. You can re-enable automated targeting at any time by selecting Turn on.

Default targeting setup (automated targeting on)	Manual targeting setup - status quo (automated targeting off)

Things to know

• Automated targeting now applies to custom audiences.
• For new ad groups, custom audiences and gender targeting will use an “OR” logic with audience suggestions when automated targeting is in use. Existing ad groups using custom audiences or gender targeting will maintain an “AND” relationship with other audience settings.
• Inclusions can be added in Audience suggestions > View more options. Exclusions and more audience targeting controls can be set in Audience controls > View more options.
• To turn off automated targeting and revert back to manual targeting, select Turn off automated targeting. 

Automated targeting, formerly dynamic audience expansion in the Ads Manager, can help you reach redditors beyond your initial targeting to improve performance. It uses machine learning to analyze factors like your initial Reddit Audience targeting, ad creative, landing page content, and users' engagement with content on Reddit to expand the audience for your ad.

Automated targeting won't affect your negative keyword or community (“subreddit”) exclusions, and all brand safety inventory tiers will still be honored.

Key features

• Identify more redditors and boost metrics based on your campaign objective: ¹

  Objective	Compared to those not using it, automated targeting delivered…
  Brand awareness and reach	5.2% higher impression volume
  Traffic	4.1% lower cost per click
  Conversions	11% higher conversion volume and 10% lower cost per action
  Video views	1.4% higher video views volume
  App installs	9.1% lower cost per install

• Improve return on investment (ROI) without the need for manual adjustments.
• Expand audience targeting while maintaining brand safety controls.

Reporting

The insights panel and downloadable reports include interest and community reporting for automated targeting, giving more transparency into your audiences. You can explore aggregated insights into your top interests and communities directly in the dashboard, or drill into granular performance in the Report Center. Learn more about reporting.

If a community appears in your report, it doesn’t mean your ad ran there. It reflects that users associated with that community were part of your audience.

Supported metrics in the Report Center

• CPV (Cost Per View)
• CPC (Cost Per Click)
• eCPM (Effective Cost Per Mille)
• CTR (Click-Through Rate)
• Clicks
• Impressions
• Viewable Impressions
• Video View Rate
• Frequency
• Pacing
• Reach
• Amount Spent
• CPA (Cost Per Action)
• CPI (Cost Per Install)

Things to know

• Alcohol or special ad category advertisers aren’t supported.
• Automated targeting respects your existing brand safety settings and exclusions.
• Use automated targeting from the start of your campaign for efficient spending.
• Your budget will automatically optimize for manual and automated targeting, prioritizing the signals that deliver the best performance for your campaign objective.
• Wait at least two weeks before evaluating your targeting performance for complete insights.

¹ Reddit Internal Data, 2024