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Ads: scope and feature boundaries

The Ads console manages Meta click-to-chat advertising only. It connects one Meta Ad Account, creates campaigns whose destination is a WhatsApp, Messenger, or Instagram Direct conversation, returns business outcomes to Meta through the Conversions API (CAPI), and reports attribution against the entry ad. If you came here to run ads on Google, TikTok, or any other network, this is not the surface — read Feature boundaries for what it deliberately excludes and where those channels stand.

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What the Ads console manages

Every feature on the Ads page fits inside one loop, and the loop starts and ends with Meta:
  1. Connect — authorize one Meta Ad Account per organization over OAuth. One account connects at a time; the console reports its billing currency so budgets, spend, and revenue render in that currency.
  2. Run — create click-to-chat campaigns from the dashboard. The destination is always a conversation surface Meta owns: WhatsApp, Messenger, or Instagram Direct. New campaigns are created PAUSED so you review in Meta before spending.
  3. Convert — post outcomes (Lead, Purchase, and other Meta standard events) through the Conversions API, matched with a ctwa_clid click id or a hashed phone/email. Match keys are SHA-256 hashed server-side; raw PII never leaves.
  4. Attribute — read per-ad entry counts, first-touched contacts, attributed revenue, spend, and ROAS, first-touch across a 1–365 day window.
If the question you are asking sits inside that loop, the console answers it. If it sits outside — a different network, a different destination, a different objective — it does not, and the next section says so plainly. For the full operational walk-through (OAuth steps, CAPI verification, troubleshooting), use the Ads console guide. This page exists to draw the boundary, not to repeat the guide.

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Feature boundaries

Channels (destinations): in scope are WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram Direct — the conversation surfaces Meta click-to-chat ads support. Out of scope are every non-Meta surface: an SMS inbox capture flow, email capture, and voice are not ad destinations here, and the console does not pretend otherwise.
  • Google Ads: not supported. There is no Google account connector on the Ads page and no Google campaign creation or attribution loop on this surface.
  • TikTok Ads: not supported. No TikTok connector, no TikTok campaign creation, no TikTok attribution.
  • Other networks (X, LinkedIn, Snapchat, etc.): not supported.
  • Meta Lead Ads (instant forms): in scope, as a second entry path only. A lead-form submission lands in the same attribution view as a click-to-chat entry. This is ingestion of a Meta-native form, not a general lead-capture builder for other networks.
  • Ad creation itself: creating, pausing, resuming, and deleting a Meta click-to-chat campaign happens here. Media buying strategy, creative production, and bidding advice stay on Meta’s side — the console manages the campaign loop and the convert-and-attribute half, not creative services.
When a non-Meta network joins the console, it will ship as a separately documented connector — this page and the Ads console guide will be updated the day it lands, and it will be announced on the changelog.

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Dashboard tiles map

The Ads page is arranged as a set of tiles, top to bottom. Each tile answers one question: Permissions map onto the tiles the way you would expect: every role reads connection status, campaign lists, and audiences; the writes — connect/disconnect, campaign create/pause/resume/delete, audience create/sync/delete, conversions configuration and posting — need an owner or admin.

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FAQ

Why only Meta? Because click-to-chat ads entry points — WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram Direct — are surfaces Meta owns, and the attribution loop (the referral stamp on the inbound message, the closed-loop CAPI reporting) is Meta-native. Other networks do not expose the same deterministic click id (ctwa_clid) join, so a generic ads surface would ship weaker attribution than this one. Rather than fold that weaker attribution in, the console scopes to the network where the loop closes cleanly. Where are Google Ads and TikTok Ads? Not in this console, and not planned as a silent addition — any new network ships as its own connector with its own connector card and documentation, and it will be announced on the changelog. Does the console manage my entire Meta Ads account? No. It manages the click-to-chat campaign loop: campaign creation, audiences, conversions, and attribution. Full account management (ad sets beyond the click-to-chat shape the console creates, creative tooling, billing) stays in Meta Ads Manager. Can I still serve customers on SMS/voice if my acquisition runs on Meta ads? Yes — channel choice for your ongoing conversations is independent of where the ad ran. The click-to-chat destination is fixed to Meta’s conversation surfaces during the acquisition step; once a contact exists, you can reach them on any channel your organization has enabled and they have consented to. Can I connect more than one Meta ad account? One ad account connects per organization. To switch accounts, disconnect (a typed-phrase confirmation, since it stops data flow) and re-run OAuth against the right account.

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See also