Facebook Catalogs in 2025: Effective Placement for Traffic Arbitrage

In 2025, Facebook catalogs have finally evolved from an “experimental” dynamic retargeting tool into a full-fledged format capable not only of boosting click-through rates and conversions but also significantly reducing the risk of bans from Meta’s moderation team.

Key points covered in this article:

• Popularity trends: catalogs are overtaking traditional static creatives due to automation, scalability, and flexible real-time product card swapping.
• Performance vs. myths: we’ll break down the main fears about catalogs’ low conversion rates and compare actual results with feeds and stories.
• Verticals: discover which niches catalogs perform best in.
• Statistics: a visual comparison of CTR and CV across feeds, stories, and catalogs using fresh data.

Why Facebook catalogs are so popular

• Dynamic creative replacement – instead of dozens of static ads, you use one template, while content (image, title, price) is pulled from the product feed in real-time.
• Algorithmic optimization – Meta applies dynamic retargeting and lookalike audiences not to the banner, but to individual products, enabling more accurate targeting and higher conversion likelihood.
• Reduced ban risk – spreading the budget across hundreds of product cards “blurs” the arbitrage footprint and complicates the detection of mass campaigns, unlike mono-creatives with single landing links.

Meta confirms: the average ROAS for advertisers on Facebook and Instagram has reached $3.71 for every dollar spent.

Placement comparison: catalogs vs classic formats

Flexibility and scalability – static feeds require hundreds of creatives and texts, while a catalog uses one template for the entire inventory. Catalogs auto-test thousands of combinations of headlines, images, and descriptions, freeing the media buyer from repetitive manual work.

CPA and ROAS optimization – Meta reports an average CTR of 1.49% for catalog campaigns, higher than for carousels and single banners. The average CTR in the news feed is 1.11%, and in stories — 0.79%. The average CV for Facebook campaigns reaches 8.78%.

Ban risks – static creatives with uniform URLs are easier to trace and block. Catalogs distribute traffic across numerous cards, making it significantly harder for moderators to detect arbitrage schemes.

Catalog-friendly verticals

Catalogs are not just about e-commerce. Today, Product Ads are used to promote nutra, dating, sweepstakes, finance, and even gambling with crypto. The key is setting up the feed properly and passing moderation. Here’s what works best:

Catalog performance: myths vs reality

Myth 1: “Catalogs are expensive and complicated”
Setting up a feed and dynamic template takes no more than 1–2 hours. Integrations with Google Sheets and CSV files make the process simple, even for beginners.

Myth 2: “Catalog conversion is lower than static ads”
The median CTR for catalogs is 1.49% versus 0.97% for dynamic banners and 0.9% for carousels. Average CVR in dynamic campaigns is on par with static and reaches 8–10%.

Myth 3: “Moderation quickly bans catalogs”
With proper account preparation and regular feed updates, the risk of blocks is minimal since catalogs look like a complete online store, not a “one-page arbitrage” scheme.

How to launch a catalog campaign: step-by-step guide

1. Create a catalog in Commerce Manager by selecting “Products” or “Events” depending on your vertical.
2. Upload a feed in CSV/TSV/XML format or via API. Check mandatory fields: id, title, description, link, image_link, price, availability.
3. Set up product sets (filters by category, brand, price).
4. Launch the campaign in Ads Manager by choosing the “Catalog Sales” objective, targeting, budgets, and automatic placements.
5. Create an ad template: use dynamic feed parameters for headline, description, image, and CTA.
6. Track performance (CTR, CR, CPA), adjust filters and budgets every 2–3 days.

Account farming before launch: main stages

• Warming up new accounts: organic posts, test campaigns with $1–2/day budgets, basic creatives without aggressive offers.
• Creating Business Manager: grouping multiple ad accounts, gradually increasing activity.
• Verifying payment methods: micropayments of $0.01–$0.5 to confirm cards without triggering blocks.
• Soft launches: low-frequency campaigns with warm-up offers (welcome discounts) and minimal budgets.

If your goal is scaling, farming loses efficiency in terms of risk/time ratio. In that case, an agency account with catalogs solves 80% of a media buyer’s common pains — from bans to limits.

Contact our support — we’ll promptly find the right account for your goals and verticals, assist with the launch, and provide recommendations for your funnel.

Tips for media buyers

• Update your feed regularly (at least once a day), remove outdated products.
• Scale smoothly: +20–30% budget every 2–3 days to allow algorithms time to adapt.
• Use lookalike audiences based on users who interacted with catalog ads.
• Track ROAS at the card level — manually disable underperforming products.
• Mini-landing pages in cards: add description text, price, “limited offer” tag. This boosts CR.
• Use content_id tracking to see which cards perform best. Use this to disable weak ones.

Conclusion

In 2025, Facebook catalogs are more than just a replacement for static banners — they’re a full-featured tool that, when set up correctly, improves CTR, conversions, and reduces the risk of bans. Automated creative replacement, product-level algorithmic optimization, and flexible inventory segmentation allow media buyers to focus on scaling and ROI instead of manual work.