Demographic Targeting

Not yet available. This page previews the AdCP 3.2 demographic-targeting surface after its future public activation. Every Scope3 storefront and buyer endpoint currently negotiates AdCP 3.0 or 3.1 only; a create_media_buy request that carries targeting_overlay.demographics today is rejected before any adapter is contacted. Public exposure is tracked under AI-7862 and will be announced through the release channel and this page’s status header when it opens.

Overview

AdCP 3.2 promotes demographic targeting from a platform extension to a first-class capability. Platforms that support it declare demographic_targeting directly on their products. Buyers express a demographic intent in targeting_overlay.demographics when creating a media buy, and the platform confirms the exact execution in targeting_resolution.demographics on the response. Demographic targeting is distinct from the exact-age-targeting brief used during product discovery. The discovery brief filters which products match; the targeting_overlay.demographics request writes a targeting constraint into the resulting media buy. Once the AdCP 3.2 surface is activated for public buyers, demographic overlays will be accepted on create_media_buy for every platform in the support table below. On update_media_buy, behavior differs by platform:

Platform	Update behavior once activated
TikTok	Accepts demographic changes on AdCP 3.2. The age intent is recompiled against the product’s declared capability, new provider intervals are layered onto the existing geo/audience state, and the platform receives the change in a single mutation.
Spotify	Accepts demographic changes on AdCP 3.2. Same recompile-and-layer semantics as TikTok.
Meta	Rejects `targeting_overlay.demographics` on `update_media_buy` regardless of protocol version. Delete-and-recreate is the only way to change the demographic constraint.
Google	Rejects `targeting_overlay.demographics` on `update_media_buy` regardless of protocol version. Delete-and-recreate is the only way to change the demographic constraint.
Snap	Rejects `targeting_overlay.demographics` on `update_media_buy` regardless of protocol version. Delete-and-recreate is the only way to change the demographic constraint.
Pinterest	Rejects `targeting_overlay.demographics` on `update_media_buy` regardless of protocol version. Delete-and-recreate is the only way to change the demographic constraint.

Legacy AdCP 3.0 / 3.1 update calls that send targeting_overlay.demographics will be refused with a 400 UNSUPPORTED_TARGETING_DIMENSION on every platform.

Supported platforms

The following platforms advertise demographic targeting capability via AdCP 3.2:

Platform	Notes
Meta	Age ranges from 18 through 64. The value 65 means 65+ and is not a closed maximum.
Snap	Exact unions of native 18-20, 21-24, and 25-34 buckets. Open-ended buckets are not treated as a closed maximum.
Spotify	Age ranges from 18 through 65.
Google	Exact unions of native 18-24, 25-34, 35-44, 45-54, and 55-64 buckets on the supported Search products. The 65+ bucket is open-ended.
TikTok	Unions of native 18-24, 25-34, 35-44, and 45-54 buckets. The 55+ bucket is open-ended.
Pinterest	Unions of native 18-24, 25-34, 35-44, 45-54, and 55-64 buckets. The 65+ bucket is open-ended.

A product that does not carry demographic_targeting does not support this path — submit a targeting overlay with demographics against such a product and the request is rejected.

How to use

1. Discover products with demographic targeting

Request products as usual. The product response will include a demographic_targeting object when the platform supports it, describing the supported age bounds and bucket structure. Once activated, TikTok and Spotify will additionally accept demographic changes on update_media_buy; Meta, Google, Snap, and Pinterest will reject demographic updates and require a delete+recreate to change the demographic constraint.

2. Express a demographic intent

Pass targeting_overlay.demographics in your create_media_buy request with an age constraint:

{
  "targeting_overlay": {
    "demographics": {
      "age": {
        "min": 25,
        "max": 54,
        "include_unknown": false
      }
    }
  }
}

Field	Description
`age.min`	Minimum age (inclusive). Must be 18 or greater.
`age.max`	Maximum age (inclusive). Must be a closed bound the platform can represent exactly.
`age.include_unknown`	Required. Whether to reach users whose age is not known to the platform. Not all platforms support `true` — see below.

The platform validates that the requested range maps exactly to its native bucket structure. A range that cuts through a bucket, or a closed maximum that the platform represents as open-ended (such as 65+ on Google or TikTok), is rejected rather than silently broadened.

3. Confirm the resolution

The media-buy response includes targeting_resolution.demographics describing how the intent was executed, and returns the effective targeting_overlay.demographics applied to the package:

{
  "targeting_overlay": {
    "demographics": {
      "age": {
        "min": 25,
        "max": 54,
        "include_unknown": false
      }
    }
  },
  "targeting_resolution": {
    "demographics": {
      "requested": {
        "age": {
          "min": 25,
          "max": 54,
          "include_unknown": false
        }
      },
      "applied": {
        "age": {
          "min": 25,
          "max": 54,
          "include_unknown": false
        }
      },
      "equivalent": true,
      "execution": {
        "type": "enumerated_intervals",
        "interval_ids": ["25-34", "35-44", "45-54"]
      }
    }
  }
}

Read targeting_resolution.demographics.execution to verify the platform execution path, and compare requested, applied, and equivalent before treating the buy as active.

Unknown-age users

Some platforms can deliver to users whose age is unknown. Support varies:

Meta and Google: Support include_unknown: true. Users with unknown age are included only when you set include_unknown: true; set include_unknown: false to exclude them.
Snap, Spotify, TikTok, Pinterest: Cannot include users with unknown age when an age constraint is active. Pass include_unknown: false for these platforms.

An explicit include_unknown: true sent to a platform that cannot honor it is rejected. The platform reports the unsupported combination in the error rather than silently excluding unknown-age users.

Relationship to exact-age targeting in product discovery

The exact-age-targeting brief documented in Exact Age Targeting controls which products are returned during discovery — it is a filter, not a commitment. The targeting_overlay.demographics field in create_media_buy is the commitment: it writes the constraint into the media buy and is confirmed by targeting_resolution.demographics. Both paths use the same platform support table and the same exact-match rule — no silent broadening on either surface. Demographic updates through update_media_buy will be accepted on TikTok and Spotify (recompiled against the product’s declared capability); Meta, Google, Snap, and Pinterest will reject demographic updates and require a delete+recreate to change the demographic constraint.

AdCP 3.2 reference

Demographic targeting as a first-class capability (not an EXT extension) is defined in the AdCP 3.2 specification. Earlier protocol versions carry age targeting through platform-specific extension fields and do not populate demographic_targeting, targeting_overlay.demographics, or targeting_resolution.demographics.

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Help and updates

Demographic Targeting

Overview

Supported platforms

How to use

1. Discover products with demographic targeting

2. Express a demographic intent

3. Confirm the resolution

Unknown-age users

Relationship to exact-age targeting in product discovery

AdCP 3.2 reference

​Overview

​Supported platforms

​How to use

​1. Discover products with demographic targeting

​2. Express a demographic intent

​3. Confirm the resolution

​Unknown-age users

​Relationship to exact-age targeting in product discovery

​AdCP 3.2 reference

Overview

Supported platforms

How to use

1. Discover products with demographic targeting

2. Express a demographic intent

3. Confirm the resolution

Unknown-age users

Relationship to exact-age targeting in product discovery

AdCP 3.2 reference