5 Pieces of Paid Ads Advice That Are Completely Outdated in 2026

Introduction: The Playbook Has Changed

If you are running ads based on a course you bought in 2023, you are actively losing money. The algorithms at Meta and Google change fundamentally every 6-8 months.

Strategies that were "Best Practice" two years ago are now "Best Way to Get Banished to the Low-Quality Auction."

Here are the 5 myths you need to delete from your brain in 2026.

Myth 1: "Test Many Interests to Find Your Audience"

The Old Way: Create 50 ad sets. Ad set 1: "Yoga." Ad set 2: "Pilates." Ad set 3: "Lululemon."

The 2026 Reality: Interest targeting is decaying. Meta removed thousands of interests. The audience sizes are too small for the AI to learn.

The Fix: Broad Targeting. No interests. No lookalikes. Just Age, Gender, and Location. Let the Creative find the buyer. (See our guide on the "Creative is Targeting" framework).

Myth 2: "Keep Changing Ads Every 3 Days"

The Old Way: Rapid-fire testing. If an ad doesn't work in 24 hours, kill it.

The 2026 Reality: Modeled conversions (due to privacy laws) take up to 72 hours to report. If you kill an ad on Day 1, you are killing it based on incomplete data.

The Fix: The 7-Day Rule. Do not touch a new campaign for 7 days. Let the learning phase complete.

Myth 3: "Separate Placements (Feed vs. Stories)"

The Old Way: Only run Feed ads because "Stories don't convert."

The 2026 Reality: Inventory liquidity. Meta wants to find the cheapest conversion. Sometimes that's on Reels, sometimes it's on Search.

The Fix: Advantage+ Placements (All Placements). Trust the liquidity.

Myth 4: "Exclude Past Purchasers"

The Old Way: Build complex exclusion lists so past buyers don't see ads.

The 2026 Reality: Customer Lifetime Value (LTV) is the game. Your past buyers are your most profitable demographic.

The Fix: Unless you sell a one-time product (like a funeral casket), never exclude buyers. Run specific "Loyalty" creatives to them.

Myth 5: "Single Keyword Ad Groups (SKAGs)" in Google

The Old Way: Create a unique ad group for every specific keyword typo.

The 2026 Reality: "Broad Match" + Smart Bidding has won. Google understands intent better than keywords. SKAGs restrict data volume.

The Fix: Thematic Ad Groups. Group keywords by intent (e.g., "High Intent," "Research," "Competitor"). Use Broad Match with negatives.

Conclusion: Simplify to Scale

The theme of 2026 is Simplification. Account structures should be simple. Strategy should be complex.

Stop trying to "hack" the algorithm settings. Start hacking the consumer psychology in your videos.