Meta overhauls Marketing API, retires legacy reach metrics in push toward ‘views’ standard

Meta is advancing its shift toward a unified “views” measurement framework by updating its Graph API and Marketing API, phasing out legacy reach and impression metrics and tightening automation standards for advertisers.

The changes, introduced with Graph API v25.0 and Marketing API v25.0, extend Meta’s previously announced plan to prioritize views as the primary performance indicator across Facebook and Instagram. The transition will formally reshape how third-party platforms, agencies, and ad tech providers access and report campaign data.

By the end of June 2026, Meta plans to introduce a new Page Viewer metric within the Graph API. The metric is designed to replace legacy reach measurements and create a consistent cross-platform count of how many people saw a piece of content.

As part of the update, Post/Page Reach, Video Impressions, Story Impressions, and 3-second video viewer metrics will be deprecated across all API versions. These metrics have already been removed from Meta’s Insights tools but remained accessible through API endpoints. That access will end in mid-2026.

Developers are being directed to migrate to Media Views and Media Viewers metrics, including:

• page_total_media_view_unique
• post_total_media_view_unique
• page_media_view
• post_media_view

The change consolidates measurement around a standardized view count, reducing discrepancies between paid and organic reporting structures and aligning external reporting tools with Meta’s internal analytics framework.

Meta is also deprecating the metadata=1 query parameter in Graph API v25. Requests including the parameter will continue to function but will no longer return node metadata. The parameter will be fully removed in May 2026.

In addition, the company is introducing expanded error transparency for the Ads Insights Async API. Beginning with v25.0, failed asynchronous report runs will include new default fields such as error_code, error_message, error_subcode, error_user_title, and error_user_msg, allowing developers to diagnose failures more precisely.

Separately, Meta is changing its Webhooks mTLS certificate authority. Starting March 31, 2026, webhook certificates will be signed by a Meta-owned root CA instead of DigiCert. Developers who validate webhook certificates must update their trust stores before the deadline to avoid service interruptions.

Beyond measurement changes, Meta is accelerating the migration to its Automation Unification framework, centered on Advantage+ campaign formats.

As of Marketing API v25.0, Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns (ASC) and Advantage+ App Campaigns (AAC) can no longer be created or updated via the Marketing API. This restriction will extend across all API versions after May 19, 2026.

By v26.0, expected in September 2026, remaining ASC and AAC campaigns will be paused entirely. Advertisers using Existing Customer Budget Caps (ECBC) must duplicate or migrate those campaigns before the cutoff, either manually in Ads Manager, through API replication, or via coordinated bulk migration.

The move effectively forces third-party tools to adopt Meta’s latest AI-driven campaign structure, limiting the use of older automation formats.

Meta also confirmed upcoming version sunsets:

• Graph API v19 will be removed on May 21, 2026.
• Graph API v20 will be removed on September 24, 2026.

Developers are advised to migrate to the latest API version to avoid service disruptions.

Collectively, the updates reflect a structural shift in how Meta defines and distributes advertising performance data. The consolidation around “views” simplifies cross-platform comparison but requires significant adjustments from developers and marketing platforms that rely on granular reach and impression endpoints.

For advertisers operating through third-party dashboards and API integrations, the transition will require metric migration, automation updates, and technical certificate changes over the coming months.