2025 Google & Facebook Targeting Restrictions have tightened, especially for industries like senior living and 55+ communities. These rules impact your ability to show ads to people who meet certain criteria, such as falling within a specific age group. As a part of the marketing team at a senior housing community, here’s what you need to know when it comes to privacy and targeting.
Facebook’s Special Ad Category and Google’s Personalized Advertising Policy restrict targeting audiences for housing ads (including independent living) by age, zip code and specific interests. Despite these restrictions, you can achieve success through contextual targeting, intent-focused messaging, data-driven modeling techniques and third-party data providers.
Special ad categories for senior living
As of 2025, Facebook’s Special Ad Category and Google’s Personalized Advertising Policy restricts targeting audiences when advertising housing, credit and employment ads. Because independent living falls into the “housing” category, limitations are placed on campaign and ad group settings.
Targeting people by age, zip code or certain specific interests isn’t allowed. So, you’re probably wondering how you can change targeting settings if you’re in a restricted special ad category.
Facebook makes this easy: Once a Facebook advertiser declares their advertising category, Facebook automatically limits most options. However, Google allows you to adjust settings like excluding age brackets, which can cause your ads to stop showing.
Even though age and zip code are restricted from use, Google still allows you to select age ranges and zip code areas. Don’t do this! If your Google campaign stops delivering impressions, check your age and location targeting settings and remove any exclusions or bid adjustments.
Remarketing to seniors on Facebook vs Google
Typically, remarketing enables your community to show ads to people who have already interacted with your brand — for instance, people who’ve visited your website. Unfortunately, Google doesn’t allow the use of advertiser-curated audiences (which includes remarketing audiences) in sensitive interest categories. In addition, if your community offers assisted living, memory care or other health care services, you may be subject to additional protected health information restrictions and won’t be able to use remarketing features at all.
On the remarketing front, Facebook is a little less restrictive. Once you have a pixel installed, you can create audiences for retargeting website visitors: those who’ve engaged with your page and converted audiences.
Create a Facebook audience of people who’ve converted. You’ll be able to target or exclude these audiences depending on the messaging and timing of your ads if your audience is large enough (typically 1,000 users).
How do I target senior audiences in Google and Facebook?
Google continues to prohibit direct age targeting in housing ads. Now you’re left wondering, “How do I target ads to seniors when there are so many restrictions?”
Advertisers can achieve success through contextual targeting options:
- Topical targeting: showing ads on websites that revolve around a specific theme or topic
- In-market segments: people looking to make a purchase or actively shopping for something
- Affinity segments: groups of people who have common interests or behaviors, like “classic car enthusiasts”
- Intent-focused messaging: crafting intent-focused messaging means using phrases that give the audience an indication that it’s an age-restricted community
Looking for more targeting options? Try using these 4 targeting methods:
- Household income: You can set ranges in Google Display ads.
- Geographic targeting: Location targeting is still an option. Use broader areas like cities and neighborhoods, just not zip codes.
- Predefined audiences: Currently, Google and Facebook offer interest-based targeting.
- Get creative: Scan through the available pre-defined audiences. You might see something that resonates. You may think only moms are shopping for baby clothes, but senior women shopping for grandkids can be a great target audience.
Do you have a creative way to target seniors? Leave us a note in the comments below.
Restrictions on data from third-party providers
Rolled out in March 2025, Facebook has implemented targeting restrictions on the data that can be uploaded as a targeted audience segment. Before purchasing a third-party list, you’ll need to confirm that the list isn’t created based on certain types of information. In addition, you may need to certify that your list complies with targeting rules.
Third-party cookies: What marketers should know
Our industry has relied on third-party cookies to track website visitors’ behavior for a long time. It’s a large piece of technology. Although many companies have discussed changing how internet cookies work, a pivot like this requires a lot of agreement in the industry. And we’re just not there yet. In July 2024, Google suggested an alternative:
Most of these technical advances are beyond your community’s control. However, if you’re concerned about cookies that may be deployed on your site, we suggest doing an audit of your tags, pixels, analytics and privacy policy. Most websites can confirm compliance by reviewing their settings annually.
Working around targeting restrictions: Data-driven modeling
In addition to third-party cookies, platforms like Google have designed data-driven modeling techniques. Basically, this modeling uncovers patterns and trends without the need for detailed information about users. Modeling like this can target a high-quality audience without specifying age, zip code or parental status criteria. Data-driven modeling was designed to bring you qualified leads while maintaining compliance. Google’s PerformanceMax takes advantage of this modeling, calling it “signals.” Instead of tracking individuals, marketers leverage cohort and signal-based targeting.
Zero-party data: How to leverage your database of seniors
For senior living and 55+ marketers, CRM enrichment, email nurturing and site retargeting with consent are now the pillars of strong digital campaigns. Investing in zero-party data (that’s the information users willingly share with you) is crucial for maintaining relevance.
It may be effective to do a data append. With an append, business and consumer information from companies that have collected and cleaned data is matched and added to records in your existing database. This additional information helps shore up the information you’ve collected. It expands your available reach within key segments, especially when you’re ready to launch a direct mail or email campaign.
You don’t have to figure it out on your own
While privacy restrictions will continue to tighten, opportunities exist for communities that are tasked with reaching a 55+ senior audience. If you’re running digital ad campaigns and aren’t getting the results you want, then set up a discovery call with us. We’re available to walk through your campaign, identify insights and offer suggestions so that your community can get the results it needs to succeed.