Outage Alert

Meta Ads Delivery Outage - January 22, 2026

Meta experienced high disruptions in ad delivery for nearly 3 hours on Wednesday evening, affecting advertisers worldwide during prime advertising hours.

January 23, 2026  |  5 min read  |  Meta Ads, Outage Analysis

Quick Summary

  • Incident: High disruptions to ad delivery
  • Platform: Meta Ads Manager (Facebook & Instagram)
  • Start Time: ~5:56 PM UTC, January 22, 2026
  • Resolution: ~8:39 PM UTC, January 22, 2026
  • Duration: Approximately 2 hours 43 minutes
  • Severity: High disruptions

What Happened?

On Wednesday evening, January 22, 2026, Meta experienced significant disruptions to its ad delivery system. The outage began around 5:56 PM UTC and lasted for nearly three hours, with Meta declaring the issue resolved at 8:39 PM UTC.

According to Meta's status page, the incident was classified as "High disruptions" affecting ad delivery across the platform. This meant that active advertising campaigns may have experienced:

  • Reduced or stopped ad delivery
  • Inaccurate reporting and metrics
  • Inability to make campaign changes
  • Delayed ad approvals

Incident Timeline

5:56 PM UTC
High Disruptions

Meta acknowledges the issue: "We are aware of an issue that may be impacting ad delivery. Our engineering teams are aware and are actively looking to resolve the issue as quickly as possible."

8:39 PM UTC Resolved

Meta announces recovery: "We are recovering from an earlier outage that caused disruptions in ad delivery and services are in the process of being restored."

8:39 PM - 10:53 PM UTC
Recovery Period

Multiple recovery status updates as systems were gradually restored. Full service restoration took an additional ~2 hours after initial resolution.

Impact on Advertisers

Revenue Loss

A 3-hour outage during evening hours (prime time in Europe, afternoon in North America) likely resulted in significant lost advertising impressions and conversions for businesses running time-sensitive campaigns.

Campaign Disruption

Advertisers running flash sales, event promotions, or limited-time offers may have missed critical windows. Daily budgets may have been under-delivered, affecting overall campaign performance.

Reporting Issues

Analytics and reporting may show gaps or inaccuracies during the outage window. Advertisers should verify metrics and consider excluding this period from performance comparisons.

What Advertisers Should Do

Immediate Actions
  • Check campaign delivery: Review your campaigns to ensure they resumed normal delivery after 8:39 PM UTC
  • Verify budgets: Check if daily budgets were under-delivered and adjust accordingly
  • Review metrics: Be aware that reporting between 5:56 PM - 8:39 PM UTC may be incomplete
  • Monitor closely: Keep an eye on ad delivery for the next 24-48 hours to ensure full recovery
Requesting Credits

If your campaigns were significantly impacted during this outage, you may be eligible for advertising credits. Consider:

  • Documenting the impact on your campaigns (screenshots, metrics)
  • Calculating estimated lost impressions and conversions
  • Contacting Meta's advertiser support team with your case
  • Referencing the official incident timeframe (5:56 PM - 8:39 PM UTC)

Recent Meta Reliability Concerns

This outage comes on the heels of several recent incidents affecting Meta's advertising platform:

  • January 6-13, 2026: Silent Landing Page Views tracking bug affecting conversion optimization
  • January 8, 2026: Brief ad delivery disruption
  • November 2025: Major BFCM crisis affecting peak holiday shopping season

These repeated incidents have raised concerns among advertisers about Meta's platform reliability during critical business periods.

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Key Takeaways

  1. Duration matters: While Meta resolved the issue in under 3 hours, full recovery took additional time. Evening timing amplified the impact.
  2. Communication improved: Meta acknowledged the issue promptly and provided regular updates during recovery.
  3. Monitoring is essential: Advertisers who received instant notifications could pause campaigns or shift budgets to other platforms, minimizing losses.
  4. Pattern of issues: This marks another incident in a series of Meta platform disruptions, highlighting the need for contingency planning.