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Automotive Model Ads

Updated: Mar 23, 2026
To set up automotive model ads, you need a Facebook catalog. A catalog is a container of information about your products and where you can upload your inventory. You can use your catalog in different ways within the Meta family of apps. In your inventory, each individual product represents a unique vehicle offer you want to promote in your campaign.
Meta’s automotive model ads leverage cross-device intent signals to automatically promote relevant vehicle models and offers on Facebook and Instagram. A vehicle models and offers catalog consists of information about the offers, corresponding vehicles, and markets/regions where the offer is valid.
Use Commerce Manager⁠ to create and manage your catalogs. Learn more about building a high-quality catalog⁠.

Before You Start

Before you set up your catalog, we recommend these guidelines:
  • If you manage multiple catalogs for different businesses or want an agency to access your catalogs, you may need to set up Business Manager⁠.
If you’re using Commerce Manager⁠ as part of your application, you may be affected by a couple of security-related breaking changes. See Breaking Changes, 1/30/2018, Catalog Permissions.
To set up automotive model ads, we recommend the following steps.

Step 1: Set Up Your Vehicle Models and Offers Catalog

Create Feed Files

To create a catalog, you should connect a data feed or upload data to Meta. The data should contain all the required fields for the vehicles that you want to advertise. Automotive Model Ads only require one product feed. See Reference - Automotive Model Ads - Supported Fields.
We recommend that you ensure your feed format follows our recommended guidelines. See Reference - Automotive Model Ads — Supported Formats.

Downloadable Sample Files

Download a CSV sample feed.

Download an Excel sample feed.

Download an XML sample feed.
Provide deep links in data feed following the App Links specification. Deep link information in data feed takes precedence over any information Meta collects with App Links metadata with our web crawler.
If you already have deep link information from App Links, you do not need to specify this data. Meta uses information from App Links to display the correct deep link. To display deep links in your ads see Advantage+ Catalog Ads, Ad Template. Learn more about product deep links.

Create Catalog

Once your feed file is ready, create your catalog.

Step 2: Schedule Uploads

We highly recommend using scheduled feed uploads to automatically push the latest offer feed to Meta instead of having to upload refreshed files manually.
You can make a POST request to the product_feeds edge from the following paths: /{product_catalog_id}/product_feeds
To add a schedule to the feed, you can provide the schedule parameter in the POST endpoint.
Example - Set Up a Schedule Upload
curl -X POST \
  -F 'name=Offer Feed' \
  -F 'schedule={"interval":"DAILY","url":"http://www.example.com/offer_feed.tsv","hour":"22"}' \
  -F 'access_token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>' \
  https://graph.facebook.com/<API_VERSION>/<CATALOG_ID>/product_feeds
Example — Create Offer Feed
curl \
  -F 'name= offer feed' \
  -F 'access_token=<access_token>' \
  https://graph.facebook.com/<API_VERSION>/<catalog_id>/product_feeds
Example — Upload Local Offer Feed File
curl \
  -F "file=@offer_feed.csv;type=text/csv" \
  -F "access_token=<access_token>" \
  https://graph.facebook.com/<API_VERSION>/<offer_feed_id>/uploads

Step 3: Create Product Sets

After the feed is successfully uploaded, optionally create product sets to further filter your offers. A product set is a more granular set of items that you want to promote based on your campaign strategy when setting up a campaign.
Example—Create a Product Set that Contains Only Lease Offers
curl \
 -F 'name=lease offer set' \
 -F 'filter={"offer_type":{"eq":"lease"}}' \
 -F 'access_token=<ACCESS TOKEN>' \
 https://graph.facebook.com/<API_VERSION>/<CATALOG_ID>/product_sets
You can create product sets from the Commerce Manager UI or by using the API. Learn more about Product Catalog Product Sets.

Step 4: Install the Meta Pixel

The Meta Pixel is a snippet of JavaScript code that allows you to track visitor activity on your website. When a visitor interacts with the website, pixel events are fired in response to their actions. A pixel event is a very lightweight http(s) request sent from the visitor’s browser to Meta’s servers together with some extra information about that event, such as the page url that the visitor is viewing, product ID or price of the product and so on. Therefore, to enable the tracking, you need to modify your website template to insert some JavaScript code in certain pages.
Properly setting up the pixel code is important for automotive model ads because our machine learning algorithm relies on the visitor-product interaction data in the web site collected from the pixel code. Without these data, Advantage+ catalog ads would not be able to make good recommendations to the potential customers with high probability to convert.

Standard Events to Use with the Pixel

You can set up the Meta Pixel using the defined standard events and parameter that send specific signals to the offer.

Standard Pixel Events for Automotive Model Ads


Name Description
event_name
type: string
Required.
Predefined event names that allow you to capture intent from your audiences at an item level, and segment them. For automotive offer ads, only these four standard pixel events are available: ViewContent, Search, AddToWishlist, Lead.
Where to place these standard events:
  • ViewContent to track your VDP and vehicle offer/incentive page view.
  • Search for automotive offer search and search result pages.
  • AddToWishlist when someone saves, likes, or otherwise shows special interest in an offer on the website.
  • Lead to track lower funnel actions or hard leads (where contact info is submitted).
Besides standard events, you can define custom pixel events as needed.

Name Description
content_type
type: string
Required.
Parameter that designates the type of product being advertised.
Example: vehicle_offer
content_ids
type: array of strings
Required for ViewContent, AddtoWishList, Lead. Recommended for Search.
These IDs need to match to vehicle_offer_id in the offers feed.
For ViewContent events, you should send the ID for the offer presented. For Search events, you might send an array of search results.
Examples: [‘123’, ‘456’], “12345”, ‘[‘1234’, ‘4567’, ‘5678’]’
comscore_market_codes
type: array of strings
Recommended.
The Comscore market area code, which the user looks at for offers.
Each string is an ID.
Example: [“2079”] (or another valid Comscore Market ID⁠)
dma_code
type: array of strings
Recommended.
The Designated Market Area (DMA) code, which the user looks at for offers.
Example: 502
make
type: array of strings
Recommended.
Make or brand of the vehicle.
Example: Endomoto
model
type: string
Recommended.
Model of the vehicle.
Example: EndoHatch
year
type: integer
Recommended.
Year the vehicle was launched in yyyy format.
Example: 2015
body_style
type: enum
Recommended.
Body style of the vehicle: CONVERTIBLE, COUPE, HATCHBACK, MINIVAN, TRUCK, SUV, SEDAN, VAN, WAGON, CROSSOVER, OTHER.
Example: SEDAN
trim
type: string
Recommended.
Max characters: 50
Trim of the vehicle.
Example: GE
price
type: string
Recommended.
Cost and currency of the vehicle. Format the price as the cost, followed by the ISO currency code⁠, with a space between cost and currency.
Example: 13,999 USD
transmission
type: enum
Recommended.
Transmission of the vehicle:: AUTOMATIC, MANUAL, OTHER, NONE.
Example: AUTOMATIC
fuel_type
type: enum
Recommended.
Fuel type of the vehicle: DIESEL, ELECTRIC, FLEX, GASOLINE, HYBRID, PETROL, PLUGIN_HYBRID, OTHER, NONE.
Example: ELECTRIC
drivetrain
type: enum
Recommended.
Drivetrain of the vehicle: 4X2, 4X4, AWD, FWD, RWD, OTHER, NONE.
Example: AWD
preferred_price_range
type: array of ints
Recommended.
Preferred price range for vehicle. Min/max, up to 2 decimals.
Example: [10000, 20000]
Learn more about the Meta Pixel.

Content Type

  • content_type = vehicle_offer — Required. Used to match the onsite actions to the offer in the ad. This allows Meta to measure the performance and further optimize your campaigns.
  • content_ids = An array of IDs of vehicle offers from the offers feed — Optional, but highly recommended for all events; however, only optional for the Search event. This field helps Meta further measure and optimize your ads.
If you have an existing pixel, you can append your pixel code with a content_type vehicle_offer and add the following parameters:
Event Name Required Parameters Recommend Parameters
Search
Recommended when searching for offers.
content_type
content_ids
  • make
  • model
  • year
  • price (example: 1234.99)
  • currency (example: USD)
  • postal_code
  • market_ids
  • transmission
  • fuel_type
  • drivetrain
  • preferred_price_range
ViewContent
Recommended when viewing an auto offer.
content_type
content_ids
content_ids
  • make
  • model
  • year
  • price (example: 1234.99)
  • currency (example: USD)
  • postal_code
  • market_ids
  • transmission
  • fuel_type
  • drivetrain
  • preferred_price_range
AddToWishlist
Recommended when saving, favoring, or starring an offer.
content_type
content_ids
content_ids
  • make
  • model
  • year
  • price (example: 1234.99)
  • currency (example: USD)
  • postal_code
  • market_ids
  • transmission
  • fuel_type
  • drivetrain
  • preferred_price_range
Lead
Recommended when completing registration and submitting a lead form.
content_type
content_ids
content_ids
  • make
  • model
  • year
  • price (example: 1234.99)
  • currency (example: USD)
  • postal_code
  • market_ids
  • transmission
  • fuel_type
  • drivetrain
  • preferred_price_range
<!-- vehicle offer id information not available-->

<!-- Meta Pixel Code -->
<script>
!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?
n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;
n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;
t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window,
document,'script','https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js');

fbq('init', '<FB_PIXEL_ID>'); // pixel id
fbq('track', "PageView");
fbq('track', 'ViewContent', {
                content_type: 'vehicle_offer',
                offer_types: ['lease', 'finance', 'cash'],
                make: 'Endomoto',
                model: 'EndoHatch'
                year: '2017',
                trim: 'GE'
});

</script>
<!-- End Meta Pixel Code -->

Step 5: Build Your Audience

To build an audience of people who are interested in the offers, you need to set up the Meta Pixel. See also Install the Meta Pixel. The pixel should live on all webpages that track action relevant to your business use case. This helps Meta to optimize your campaign to find the right audience.
For example:
  • To optimize towards offer detail page views, place the pixel on that page and set up the ViewContent pixel event.
  • To optimize towards a lead submission, place the pixel on the post submission page and set up the Lead pixel event. Learn more about standard events.
Make sure that you set up the pixels on all relevant pages, not just for the pages you’re optimizing for.
Important: You need to send required parameters along with each pixel event, because a match needs to be made in the catalog to create a product audience.

Associate the Pixel or App to Your Catalog

Example — Using the API
curl \
  -F 'external_event_sources=["<PIXEL_ID>","<APP_ID>"]' \
  -F 'access_token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>' \
  https://graph.facebook.com/<API_VERSION>/external_event_sources
Example — Using the UI
  1. Go to Business Manager → Business Settings.
  2. In the left pane, choose Data Source → Catalogs.
  3. Find and select your catalog, then click Associate Sources to associate pixel and app to the catalog.

Create Event Source Group

Event source groups allow advertisers and developers to map multiple sources of conversion data into a single object for use in measurement, analytics, targeting, and optimization.
Using the API
curl \
  -F 'name=name of your event group' \
  -F 'event_sources=["<PIXEL_ID>", "<APP_ID>"]' \
  -F 'access_token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>' \
  https://graph.facebook.com/<API_VERSION>/<BUSINESS_ID>/event_source_groups
Using the UI
  1. Go to Business Manager → Business Settings.
  2. In the left pane, choose Data Source → Event Source Groups.
  3. Click Add to create a new event source group.

Create Vehicle Offer Audience

curl \
  -F 'name=Viewed in Last 30 days' \
  -F 'subtype=CLAIM' \
  -F 'claim_objective=VEHICLE_OFFER' \
  -F 'content_type=vehicle_offer' \
  -F 'event_source_group=<EVENT_SOURCE_GROUP_ID>' \
  -F 'inclusions=[
  {
      "event": "ViewContent",
      "retention": {"min_seconds":0,"max_seconds":2592000}
  },
  {
      "event": "Search",
      "retention": {"min_seconds":0,"max_seconds":2592000}
  },
  {
      "event": "AddToWishlist",
      "retention": {"min_seconds":0,"max_seconds":2592000}
  }
  ]' \
  -F 'exclusions=[{
      "event":"Lead",
      "retention": {"min_seconds":0,"max_seconds":2592000}
  }]' \
  -F 'access_token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>' \
  https://graph.facebook.com/<API_VERSION>/act_<AD_ACCOUNT_ID>/customaudiences
Example — Capture an audience who has visited your vehicle pages belonging to a certain vehicle set
curl \
  -F 'name=Viewed vechicles in vehicle set in Last 30 days' \
  -F 'subtype=CLAIM' \
  -F 'claim_objective=VEHICLE_OFFER' \
  -F 'content_type=vehicle_offer' \
  -F 'event_source_group=<EVENT_SOURCE_GROUP_ID>' \
  -F 'rule={"vehicle_set_id":{"eq":"<VEHICLE_SET_ID>"}}' \
  -F 'inclusions=[
  {
      "event": "ViewContent",
      "retention": {"min_seconds":0,"max_seconds":2592000}
  },
  {
      "event": "Search",
      "retention": {"min_seconds":0,"max_seconds":2592000}
  },
  {
      "event": "AddToWishlist",
      "retention": {"min_seconds":0,"max_seconds":2592000}
  }
  ]' \
  -F 'exclusions=[{
      "event":"Lead",
      "retention": {"min_seconds":0,"max_seconds":2592000}
  }]' \
  -F 'access_token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>' \
  https://graph.facebook.com/<API_VERSION>/act_<AD_ACCOUNT_ID>/customaudiences

Step 6: Debug Your Automotive Feed (Optional)

Using the Product Feed Debug Tool⁠, you can paste in a product feed, and validate the feed for errors and warnings.
To debug your automotive feed, in the catalog selection drop-down menu, select Vehicles.
This is helpful in the early stages of integrating automotive ads to discover whether the current feeds you may already have are supported by Meta.

Learn More

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