Gender-Based Targeting in Meta Ads and Google Ads: Strategic Advantage or Algorithmic Bias in Customised Advertising Campaigns

The proliferation of data-driven advertising platforms has fundamentally reshaped how brands communicate with consumers. Among the many targeting parameters available to marketers today, gender remains one of the most extensively used yet most contested variables. This paper critically examines gender-based targeting within Meta Ads (formerly Facebook Ads) and Google Ads, investigating whether such practices constitute a legitimate strategic instrument for campaign customisation or represent a deeper structural problem rooted in algorithmic bias. Drawing on an interdisciplinary body of literature that spans digital marketing, behavioural economics, machine learning ethics, and consumer psychology, this study constructs a conceptual framework that maps the tension between advertising effectiveness and ethical accountability. The paper analyses documented cases of gender-discriminatory ad delivery, evaluates the regulatory landscape in the European Union and the United States, and explores how platform-level algorithms can perpetuate or even amplify gender-based inequalities beyond the intentions of individual advertisers. Findings suggest that gender targeting, when deployed strategically and transparently, can yield measurable improvements in click-through rates, conversion efficiency, and return on ad spend; however, the same mechanisms, left unchecked, routinely produce biased outcomes in contexts such as employment, credit, and housing advertising. The paper concludes by proposing a dual-lens framework that empowers practitioners to leverage gender-aware strategies while adhering to ethical design principles. Recommendations are offered for advertisers, platform architects, and policymakers to ensure that personalisation does not become a vehicle for systematic discrimination.