Video retargeting in Meta Ads: three groups are replacing the thresholds. What changes and how to use them

Video retargeting in Meta Ads means showing ads to people who have already watched your videos on Facebook or Instagram, and you do it with a custom audience called a video audience. Meta is changing how you create one. In place of the seven thresholds from before, such as 50% or 75% of the video, three groups are appearing, and only the first has a stated number.

I found the new window in my account on November 4, 2026. The official guide still describes the old menu, with the example "People who viewed at least 10 seconds of your video", so I don't know whether the change has reached every account yet. My interface is in Italian, and the labels below are the ones Meta shows in English.

What has changed in Meta Ads video retargeting?

You used to pick an exact threshold out of seven: 3 seconds, 10 seconds, ThruPlay, 25%, 50%, 75% or 95% of the video. Now the field is called Include and offers three options:

• All video viewers: "People who watched at least 3 seconds of your video."
• Engaged video viewers: "People who watched a meaningful portion of your video."
• Highly engaged video viewers: "People who watched most or all of your video." Meta adds that this option will reduce your audience size.

Below that you'll find the usual fields: you still choose the videos yourself, and audience retention goes up to 365 days.

Besides the guide I checked the page for troubleshooting video audiences, which doesn't mention the new groups. As of today, the only official explanation I've found is the one written in the window itself.

What does "Engaged video viewers" mean?

These are people who watched a meaningful portion of the video, and the name is misleading. "Engaged" makes you think of likes and comments, and in my Italian interface the notice even talks about people who viewed the video and interacted, or interacted often (my translation). The descriptions of the options, though, only talk about how much of the video was watched. The official guide to video audiences uses the word the same way: it talks about people who watch your video, and right after about people "who have already engaged with your videos".

So, going by what Meta writes, a like on a video someone watched for two seconds isn't enough. If you care about people who commented or saved, the right tool is the audience from an Instagram account or the one from a Facebook Page, which are based on interactions with your content.

How much is "a meaningful portion" really?

There's no number in the window or in the guides I read, and you can see the problem by looking at the thresholds we do know. I took four videos from my account, each a different length, and worked out what share of each video the 3 seconds of the first group and the 15 seconds of the old ThruPlay represent:

So even the stated threshold means very different things. Three seconds of a ten-second video is almost a third. Three seconds of a hundred-second video is barely the start.

For the other two groups, I don't know whether Meta works in seconds or in percentages. That's why I'd keep videos of similar length in the same audience: if you put a 10-second Reel together with a 3-minute interview, "a meaningful portion" can mean two different things, and you have no way of seeing them separately.

What do you lose compared with the old thresholds?

Above all, you lose the ability to say exactly who's in the audience. You used to be able to write "people who watched at least 75%" in a report, and to compare that audience from one month to the next. Now you can only do that with the 3-second group. If you move from an old 75% audience to the highly engaged group, you don't know whether you're comparing two similar things.

The metrics, on the other hand, stay. The guide to video ad metrics still describes ThruPlay and plays at 25, 50, 75 and 95%. They tell you how many plays reach each point in the video, with the caveat that they also count people who skip straight there. They're worth more today, because they give you the exact viewing numbers the audience window doesn't show.

Tiered retargeting is still possible, just with fewer tiers. Create two audiences with the same videos and the same retention. In the ad set, include the first group and exclude the second, under "Exclude these custom audiences". That way you're talking to people who watched less.

What should you do with the video audiences you already have?

Don't delete them. They're the only way I know of to keep an exact threshold, because in the window in my account those thresholds can no longer be chosen. My account has no video audiences created before the change, so I couldn't check whether they keep updating as before.

If you have some, do two things. Write the threshold in the name, for example "Video 75% 30 days", so it stays readable even if the interface stops showing it. Then check whether the audience shrinks while the videos are still getting views. People leave when the retention period ends, so a drop in that situation may mean the audience has stopped collecting. This check doesn't work below 1,000 people, because you won't see a number.

How do you create a video audience now?

These are the steps. I followed them in my account up to choosing the videos, without saving the audience:

1. In Ads Manager, open Audiences.
2. Click Create audience, then Custom audience.
3. Choose Video and click Next.
4. Under Include, choose one of the three groups.
5. Click Select videos and choose the source.
6. Tick the videos you want and click Confirm.
7. Set the audience retention.
8. Add a name and click Create audience.

There are four sources: Facebook Page, Instagram professional account, Campaign or Video ID. For a video published on your profiles, start from the Page or the Instagram account. For one used in ads, start from Campaign.

Each video has to be ticked by hand, and the official guide gives a maximum of 200 videos. In the window I didn't find an option to automatically include the videos you'll publish tomorrow. The audience updates with the people who watch the chosen videos, so when you publish a new video you have to remember to add it.

There's a trap the same guide explains with an example. If your ad reuses an existing post, the audience is built on that post's views and can turn out much smaller than the campaign shows: in Meta's example, 1,000 views instead of 200,000. If you want the audience to reflect the ad's reach, upload the video file while creating the ad.

Which group should you choose for retargeting?

It depends on how many people you have and what you want to ask for. I found no guidance in the pages I read, so this is my starting rule:

Watch the size. In my account, small audiences show up as under 1,000, with no exact number. For a local business, the third group can end up there and reach very few people, especially with a short retention period. In that case, lengthen the retention or add more videos of similar length before spending budget on that audience.

How can you work out what's behind the groups?

You can get an idea yourself, if you have enough views. Create the three groups with the same videos and the same retention, and look at the sizes Meta shows you. If you still have an old audience with an exact threshold on the same videos and the same retention, and it seems to be active, compare it with the new ones. If the engaged group is close in size to the old 50% audience, you have an idea of where the threshold falls for those videos.

Without old audiences, you can compare the three groups with each other and see how many people you lose at each step. Either way you'll only get an order of magnitude. In my account, an audience from Instagram shows up as 8,700 to 10,200, and below 1,000 there isn't even a range.

Where should the video audience go in the ad set?

It goes in the ad set, among the custom audiences, set up so that it really limits who sees the ad. With Advantage+ audience on, an audience added as a suggestion doesn't restrict anything: as the guide to audience suggestions explains, Meta shows your ads to people in it and to other people too, when it's likely to improve performance.

Meta itself writes that Advantage+ audience isn't recommended for retargeting. To turn it off, follow the guide to campaigns using Advantage+ audience: select "Further limit your audience" or "Further limit the reach of your ads". If needed, uncheck "Use as a suggestion".

It's also worth excluding people who have already bought from you: I explained how it works in the article on excluding existing customers.

Why has Meta simplified video audiences?

Meta hasn't explained it in the pages I read, so what follows is my own reading. The change goes in the same direction as the removal of manual placements: fewer levers to set by hand, more decisions left to the system. For beginners the window is simpler. For anyone who has to compare results over time, it's harder.

Frequently asked questions

Has Meta removed the 75% threshold from video audiences?

In my account, yes. In the creation window I no longer find the percentages, and three groups are there instead. The metrics guide still describes plays at 75%.

Is a like on the video enough to count as an engaged video viewer?

From what I read in the window, no. The options only talk about how much of the video was watched, even though the name makes you think of likes and comments.

Does ThruPlay still exist?

Yes, as a metric: the metrics guide describes it as a play to the end or for at least 15 seconds. In the window I used, I no longer find it as a threshold for creating an audience.

How many days does a person stay in a video audience?

365 days at most: I read it in the window itself. The person leaves the audience at the end of the period, unless they engage with the video again.

Do new videos join the audience on their own?

No. In the window I used, each video has to be ticked by hand, so new ones have to be added each time.

Read also

More notes on audiences and manual control in Meta Ads:

• Meta is removing manual placements: what changes for advertisers
• Meta Ads can exclude existing customers without you creating a custom audience