Facebook Page Insights API: Reach and Video Reach Are Gone in Every Version, and v21 Expires 21 January

If your client's Facebook report has a blank video reach tile, a "post reach" column full of zeros, or a connector log full of invalid metric errors, the cause is not the client's Page. Meta has removed the last reach and video impression metrics from the Facebook Page Insights API, in every API version, and it will retire Graph API v21.0 on 21 January 2027. Agencies that build their own Facebook dashboards, or rely on a tool that does, are the ones who see the gap first, usually when a client asks about it.

This guide covers what Meta removed, what it offers instead, why the dates on Meta's own pages disagree, and how to rebuild the organic Facebook section so it keeps working through the version change.

What changed in the Facebook Page Insights API?

The Facebook Page Insights API no longer returns Page reach, Page post reach, video impressions, unique video views or story impressions. Meta's Graph API v25.0 changelog lists these metrics in its Insights section and says that, once deprecated, they return an error if requested using any API version. It also says that where a metric has no alternative, its data will no longer be available.

The list is long. The groups that matter most for client reports are:

• Page reach: page_impressions_unique and its paid, viral and non-viral variants, plus the page_posts_impressions family.
• Post reach: post_impressions_unique and its paid, fan, organic, viral and non-viral variants.
• Video reach and impressions: total_video_impressions with every paid, organic, viral and fan variant, plus total_video_views_unique and its organic and paid versions.
• Unique video views at Page and post level: page_video_views_unique and post_video_views_unique.
• Story impressions: PAGE_STORY_IMPRESSIONS_BY_STORY_ID and its unique version.

This is the second half of a change that started in 2025, when Meta replaced Page impressions and Page fans with views and follows. We covered that first wave, and the difference between views and reach, in why Facebook reach became views. This post is about what the newer removals break and how to keep reports running.

When did Meta remove Facebook reach from the API?

Meta's documentation gives three different dates, so the safe answer is that these metrics should be treated as gone today. The v25.0 changelog says the change "will apply to all versions when v26.0 is released", and Meta's Graph API versions table shows v26.0 was released on 29 July 2026. The Page Insights reference instead says that "by June 15, 2026" a number of metrics will be deprecated for all API versions. And Meta's separate deprecated metrics page records page_impressions_unique as deprecated back on 15 June 2025.

The documentation also lags in places. When we checked on 21 October 2026, Meta's Video Insights reference still listed total_video_impressions and its variants with no deprecation notice, even though the changelog names them for removal. Meta has not published one consolidated date for the whole list. For reporting purposes the exact day matters less than the outcome: request any of these metrics now and you should expect an invalid metric error, not a number.

Which metrics replace reach and video reach?

Meta replaces Page and post reach with unique media viewers and media views, but it offers no replacement for video reach or video impressions. The v25.0 changelog pairs each reach metric with two alternatives: a unique count and a views metric that can be broken down into paid and organic.

The Page Insights reference describes page_media_view as the number of times content was played or displayed, available by day, week or 28 days, with is_from_ads and is_from_followers breakdowns. Use is_from_ads when a Page also runs campaigns, so organic results are not inflated by paid views. page_total_media_view_unique counts unique media viewers for the Page and is the closest thing left to reach, but it is a different metric with its own counting rules, so label it "Viewers" rather than "Reach".

For video, the reference still lists page_video_views, the number of times a Page's videos played for at least 3 seconds, and does not mark it deprecated. That gives you a play count to report. What you lose is the number of unique people who saw a video, and Meta has not said whether a replacement is coming.

What happens to Graph API v21.0 on 21 January?

Graph API v21.0 stops being usable on 21 January 2027, according to the expiration column in Meta's versions table. Meta's versioning guide says that once a version is no longer usable, calls to it "will be defaulted to the next oldest, usable version". For v21.0 that is v22.0, which expires on 20 May 2027. Calls without a version use whatever version is set in the app dashboard.

So an integration pinned to v21.0 will not simply go dark in January. It will start getting v22.0 behaviour without anyone testing it, and four months later it moves again. The better path is to upgrade deliberately: v23.0 runs to 8 October 2027 and v25.0 to 29 July 2028, according to the same table. Read each changelog in between before you switch, because Meta changes fields and permissions between versions as well as metrics.

One point clients and developers often miss: upgrading does not restore reach. The Insights removals apply to every version, so a newer version only keeps the rest of the integration supported.

How should agencies rebuild the organic Facebook report?

Rebuild the organic Facebook section around metrics the Facebook Page Insights API still returns: views, viewers, follows, engagement and video plays, each with a fresh baseline. Work through it in this order:

1. Audit every metric you request. Most integrations ask for several metrics in one call, so a single removed name can blank the entire section, not just one tile. Remove every name on Meta's list.
2. Swap in the replacements. Use page_media_view and post_media_view for views, page_total_media_view_unique and post_total_media_view_unique for viewers.
3. Relabel the report. Change "Reach" to "Viewers" and "Video reach" to "Video plays (3 seconds)". Old labels on new numbers cause most of the confusion.
4. Respect the request limits. The reference says only the last two years of data are available, only 90 days can be requested at a time with since and until, most metrics update once every 24 hours, and Page Insights needs a Page with 100 or more likes. A 12-month report has to be fetched in several windows.
5. Mark the break on every chart. Old reach and new viewers cannot share a trend line, and the API cannot backfill a removed metric.
6. Pin a current API version. Upgrade before 21 January rather than letting Meta move you.

For reference, in AgencyReportr the Facebook connector calls Graph API v23.0, requests page_follows, page_media_view, page_post_engagements and post_media_view (none of which is on Meta's removal list), and splits longer date ranges into windows of 90 days or less. Our social media reporting tool puts Facebook beside Instagram and YouTube channel reporting in the same branded report, and our monthly marketing report template shows where the social section sits in the wider client report.

What should you tell clients about the missing reach numbers?

Tell clients that Meta stopped supplying reach and video reach to every reporting tool, that nothing is wrong with their Page, and that the report now tracks views, viewers and video plays from a new baseline. Say it before the next report goes out, not after the client spots a blank tile.

Wording you can reuse: "Meta has stopped sharing reach and unique video reach with reporting tools, including ours. Your Page is unaffected. From this month we report views, unique viewers and video plays, and we compare each month only with months measured the same way."

Keep that note on the report itself as a one line annotation under the Facebook charts, and use the same wording for every client. If you send white-label client reports, the note carries your brand, so the explanation comes from you rather than from Meta's changelog.

Facebook Page Insights API FAQ

Which metrics did Meta remove from the Facebook Page Insights API?

Meta's v25.0 changelog lists Page reach, Page post reach, video impressions, unique video views and story impressions metrics, including page_impressions_unique, post_impressions_unique, total_video_impressions and its variants, and page_video_views_unique. Once deprecated they return an error in every API version.

What replaced Facebook Page reach in the API?

Meta names page_total_media_view_unique for unique viewers of a Page's media and page_media_view for views with paid and organic breakdowns. For posts the pair is post_total_media_view_unique and post_media_view. Views count every play or display, so they are not a like for like swap for reach.

Is there a replacement for Facebook video reach?

No. Meta lists no alternative for total_video_impressions, its paid, organic, viral and fan variants, or the unique video view metrics, and says that data is no longer available. Report video plays and media views instead and start a new baseline.

What happens when Graph API v21.0 expires on 21 January 2027?

Meta's versioning guide says calls to a version that is no longer usable default to the next oldest usable version, which would be v22.0, and v22.0 itself expires on 20 May 2027. Move to a current version on your own schedule and test it first.

Will upgrading the Graph API version bring back Facebook reach?

No. The reach and video impression removals apply to all API versions, so a newer version does not restore them. Upgrading only keeps the rest of the integration on a supported version.