Telegram Ads Targeting Guide (2026): Every Option in the Form

The first choice: what you are targeting

Every Telegram ad starts with one decision that shapes the rest of the form: is the ad aimed at users, at channels, at bots or at search?

• Users — you describe the person, and Telegram shows the ad wherever that person reads. This is audience targeting.
• Channels — you describe the place: specific channels, or channels in a language and topic.
• Bots — the ad runs inside the bots you list.
• Search — the ad appears in Telegram search results for the queries you choose.

Most of the confusion about Telegram Ads targeting comes from mixing the first two. “Crypto” as a user topic means people interested in crypto, wherever they are reading. “Crypto” as a channel topic means crypto channels, whoever is reading them.

Targeting users

This is the richest part of the form. Each filter narrows the audience further.

Country. 229 options, including “Anonymous Numbers” for accounts registered on Fragment numbers rather than a national SIM. Pick one or many.

City or region. Inside the countries you picked, you can search for and add specific cities or regions. Useful for anything with a physical location or a local offer.

Language. 71 languages. Combine with country to reach, say, Russian speakers in Germany or English speakers in the UAE.

Topic. 41 interest topics, each with an exclude option, so you can target “Finance” while excluding “Gambling”.

Followed channels. Reach people who follow specific channels you name, or exclude followers of channels you do not want. This is the closest Telegram comes to lookalike targeting: name the channels your customers already read.

Device. iOS, Android, mobile or desktop. Device applies to user targeting only.

Politics. Include or exclude political content.

Views per user. A frequency cap: how many times one person can see the same ad.

Targeting channels

Here you describe where the ad runs rather than who sees it. You have two routes, and Telegram does not let you combine them.

Specific channels. Paste the channels you want. If you do, the language field must stay empty — Telegram’s form says so outright: “If specific channels are targeted, the language field must be empty.”

Languages and topics. Instead of naming channels, pick a language and topics, and the ad runs across channels that match. Topic targeting needs exactly one language: “You must choose one language when targeting by topic”, and “You can choose only one language to target by topic.”

Either way you can exclude topics and exclude specific channels, which is how you keep an ad off a competitor’s channel or out of a category you do not want next to your brand.

Targeting bots and search

Bots. List the bots the ad should run in. People inside a bot are one tap from another bot or a Mini App, which is why bot placements suit app and bot promotion.

Search. Choose the search queries for which the ad appears in Telegram search. Volume is small and intent is high: the person typed the word.

What is the same on Euro, TON and Stars

Until August 2026 this guide would have needed three columns. TON accounts targeted specific channels and bots only, and audience targeting was a Euro feature.

On 22 August 2026 Telegram gave TON and Stars accounts the same targeting form as Euro. We checked it live on all three: identical country, language and topic lists, the same four target types and the same user filters. Our Pro Panel sends the full set for every account type.

What is still Euro-only:

• A custom button under the ad.
• Conversion events.
• Crypto audience flags — include or exclude crypto content.
• Website links. TON allows Telegram destinations only: channels, bots, Mini Apps and personal accounts.
• Delivery in four countries. TON-funded ads are not served in Russia, Ukraine, Israel or Palestine.

So targeting is no longer a reason to choose one account type over another. Delivery, destinations and moderation are. The Stars vs TON vs Euro comparison covers the rest.

How to use it well

Choose the country first. Nothing in the form moves price as much as geography. On our Euro accounts a click cost €0.022 in India and €0.415 in Russia; the CPM by country table has the rest. Decide the market before you tune anything else.

Name channels your customers already read. Followed-channel targeting is the most precise filter in the form, and the one most advertisers skip.

Split instead of stacking. Five cities, three topics and two devices in one campaign give you one blended CTR and no idea which part worked. Running one campaign per city, topic or device tells you. In Adsly Pro Panel that split is a checkbox: it creates one campaign per value, and macros like {city}, {topic} and {device} put the value into the title, text or link so every campaign stays traceable.

Exclude before you widen. Excluding topics and channels you do not want is cheaper than paying for impressions you then filter out in your own analytics.

Keep the frequency cap low at the start. Seeing the same ad five times in a day is how a cheap impression becomes an annoyed reader.

Open a Euro account → · See the TON account →

FAQ

What targeting options does Telegram Ads have?

Four target types — users, channels, bots and search. User targeting filters by country, city or region, language, topic, followed channels and device, with exclusions, plus a politics filter and a frequency cap.

Can I target specific cities with Telegram Ads?

Yes. When targeting users, you can add cities or regions inside the countries you picked. Since August 2026 this works on TON and Stars accounts as well as Euro.

Can I combine specific channels with a language?

No. Telegram’s form requires the language field to be empty when specific channels are targeted. Choose either a list of channels, or a language with topics.

Why does topic targeting ask for exactly one language?

Because Telegram requires it: topic targeting of channels works with one language, not several. To cover two languages, run two campaigns.

Does a TON account have country targeting?

Yes, since 22 August 2026, with the same form as Euro. TON-funded ads are not served in Russia, Ukraine, Israel or Palestine.

Can I target people by the channels they follow?

Yes. When targeting users, you can include followers of specific channels and exclude followers of others.