How to Disable Audience Network Placements in Meta Ads

Learn how to exclude Audience Network placements in Meta Ads Manager to prevent your campaigns from displaying on third-party mobile apps and websites.

July 1, 2026 By Azriel Ratz

This guide explains how to disable Audience Network placements in Meta Ads Manager. By excluding these placements, you can prevent your campaigns from serving ads on external third-party applications and websites, ensuring tighter control over ad delivery and budget.

This process applies to media buyers and digital marketers managing Meta ad campaigns. It is typically performed during ad set configuration or when optimizing an active campaign to improve placement efficiency.

Navigate to your campaigns in Meta Ads Manager and follow these steps to edit your placement settings.

Step #1: Select the campaign you want to modify. — Select the campaign you want to modify.

Step #2: Click Ad sets to view the ad sets within the campaign. — Click **Ad sets** to view the ad sets within the campaign.

Step #3: Hover over your target ad set and click Edit. — Hover over your target ad set and click **Edit**.

Scroll down to the Placements section to manage where your ads appear.

Step #4: Locate the Account Controls area and review the Excluded placements settings. — Locate the **Account Controls** area and review the **Excluded placements** settings.

Step #5: Click Edit placement controls to adjust where your ads can appear. — Click **Edit placement controls** to adjust where your ads can appear.

Toggle the option that states your business excludes specific placements, and uncheck the Audience Network boxes. Once you have cleared the necessary checkboxes, click Save to apply the updated placement rules to your ad set.

Your ads are now restricted from appearing on the Meta Audience Network.

Term	Definition
Audience Network	A Meta placement network that allows advertisers to extend their Facebook and Instagram ads to high-quality third-party apps and websites.
Ad Set	A group of ads that share the same daily or lifetime budget, schedule, targeting, and placement rules.
Placement	The specific locations across Meta platforms and partner networks where an ad is displayed to the target audience.