There’s welcome news for Meta advertisers who use third-party social media management platforms to manage their ads.
Meta announced new rules around disclosure for its API tools that facilitate ad buying and ensure that ad partners are better able to determine where their money goes.
As explained by Meta: “To provide greater clarity for advertisers and developers that use our ad-buying solutions, we’re updating the Developer Policies related to Ads transparency and account structure. These updates reflect feedback from our advertiser community and are intended to clarify expectations and maintain alignment with industry best practices.”
The biggest change is in cost transparency. Meta will now require that all ad buying platforms to show the specific amount each advertiser is spending on Meta ads, as opposed to displaying only a total cost that includes their own service fees.
So now, when advertisers run a Facebook or Instagram campaign through a third-party tool, the cost breakdown will have to include an optional overview of where that money goes, separating out the specific charges that Meta takes, versus the third-party platform’s cut.
In addition, third-party tools will also have to provide insight into campaign configuration, settings and/or post campaign reporting in full, so advertisers can see what each tool contributes.
This will be welcome news for marketers who use these tools, because it will provide more insight into the specific costs and benefits of using such, compared to the expense of running ads directly within Meta’s ad platform.
Of course, there are expanded benefits to using third-party management tools, including integrated reporting and insight across various platforms. Third-party tools may also provide additional strategic guidance and notes in addition to ad planning.
But these measures will offer more insight into the specifics, which will ensure that Meta advertisers can remain informed on the totality of their ad spend, as well as what they’re getting for their investment.
Meta also reiterated that advertisers should maintain separate ad accounts for each brand, as opposed to running multiple business promotions under the one account.
As per Meta: “We recognize some businesses currently manage high volumes of end advertisers in a single ad account. To support this use case, advertisers that implement vendor_id and/or brand field in their Product Catalog and/or in their Pixel and CAPI integrations are not required to maintain separate ad accounts for each end advertiser, provided they properly implement such fields and remain in compliance with Meta’s terms.”
That will ensure that Meta can correctly attribute ads to the relevant brands within its systems.
