Meta Andromeda Update: RIP Audience Targeting
Meta's Andromeda update shifts ad targeting from demographics to Creative Retrieval. Here is how Australian E-com brands need to adapt their strategy in 2026.
News
SoMe AI Team
26 November 2025
15 min read
For the last decade, E-com founders have obsessed over 'Interest Groups', 'Demographics', and 'Lookalikes' in Meta Ads manager. That era is officially ending with the rollout of Meta's Andromeda update. The days of hacking the algorithm via audience settings are over.
What is Andromeda?
Andromeda is the internal name for Meta's new AI-driven ad retrieval system. It fundamentally shifts the engine from 'Audience Targeting' to 'Creative Retrieval'. Your targeting is now based on your video assets, not the boxes you tick.
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Social content suggestion 2The AI now scans your video content—analysing transcripts, visual pixels, object recognition, and pacing—to find the customer. It matches the *content* of the video to the *interest* of the user, bypassing your manual settings entirely.
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Example: If you target 'Dog Owners' in your ad set, but your video looks generic, Andromeda won't find them. However, if your video clearly shows a Golden Retriever and uses audio keywords like 'puppy training', the AI finds dog owners automatically—even if you targeted 'Broad'.How to Win in 2026
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Social content suggestion 3To succeed in this new environment, you need laser-focused creative diversity. You cannot run one generic video to a broad audience. You need specific videos for specific personas.
- Decide on the persona you are targeting (e.g., The Busy Mum, The Tech Enthusiast).
- Create 8-12 different creative assets targeting the full funnel (Top, Middle, Bottom) for that specific persona.
- Place all assets for that persona inside a single campaign. Do not split them by audience interests.
Conclusion
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Social content suggestion 4The brands that win in 2026 will be the ones that can produce high volumes of diverse creative assets. The 'Media Buyer' role is dead: the 'Creative Strategist' role is king.