How Meta partnership ads work

Partnership ads are Meta ads that run with a creator's or partner's identity alongside the advertiser's, on Instagram and Facebook. Their former Meta name is branded content ads (Meta, read 6 Oct 2026). They run on a creator permission, scoped to one piece of content or the whole account, which the creator may withdraw whenever they choose.

Partnership ads and whitelisting

Meta's February 2024 announcement presents partnership ads, the product it previously called branded content ads, as how brands run ads from a creator's handle and scale a collaboration (Meta, 21 February 2024). Many teams still call the practice whitelisting, although Meta doesn't use that word in its documentation.

Facebook creators can grant the same permission. In June 2023 Meta widened eligibility so that creators using Pages could let brand partners run ads from them (Meta, 14 June 2023).

The two kinds of permission

Meta describes two levels of partnership ad permission (Meta, read 6 Oct 2026).

• Content-level permission covers one post. The creator either turns on Allow brand partner to boost and adds the paid partnership label, or shares a partnership ad code for that post.
• Account-level permission lets the advertiser create partnership ads with the creator's identity without a pre-existing post. That matters when the brand edits new variants from raw footage.

Either way, the creator can withdraw permission whenever they like. A test plan that depends on one creator's post needs a fallback, and every permission should be logged against the campaign that uses it.

Ad codes and the boost toggle

A partnership ad code can be used by up to two partners at a time (Instagram, read 6 Oct 2026). Meta's help pages give no expiry for the code itself, so the agreed usage period has to live in the written agreement and in your own log.

On Instagram, the boost toggle turns on automatically for 28 days after the creator's last branded content post (Instagram, read 6 Oct 2026). That helps with speed, but it doesn't amount to a usage agreement.

Eligibility, formats and placements

Partnership ads are available for public content from Facebook Pages or profiles in professional mode and from Instagram professional accounts (Instagram, read 6 Oct 2026). The advertiser needs a Facebook Page or an Instagram professional account of its own (Instagram, read 6 Oct 2026).

On Instagram the placements are Feed, Web Feed, Explore Feed, Explore Grid, Stories and Reels. On Facebook they are Feed, Stories, Reels and Marketplace, and WhatsApp Status is listed as well (Instagram, read 6 Oct 2026).

Building for the placement

Reels ads share the 9:16 frame of organic Reels. Meta's Ads Guide gives 1440 x 2560 pixels and suggests leaving at least 14% of the top, 35% of the bottom and 6% of each side free of text, logos and key elements (Meta, read 6 Oct 2026). When a Reels ad carries a disclaimer, Meta's help center asks for the bottom 40% to stay clear (Meta, read 6 Oct 2026). Instagram Reels ads also can't contain licensed music, face or camera effects, GIFs or product tags (Meta, read 6 Oct 2026).

Every figure on this page, with its source, is collected on our spec sheet.

Partnership ads as a test variable

The format is a variable like any other. Compare one edit two ways: from the creator's handle as a partnership ad, and from the brand as a standard ad, with budgets and audiences matched. If the handle wins on the agreed metric, the creator's identity is doing work. If it doesn't, the brand can scale the footage from its own account, as long as the usage agreement allows it.

Disclosure

A partnership ad is a paid endorsement. The FTC's Endorsement Guides require clear and conspicuous disclosure of any material connection between endorser and brand that viewers would not anticipate (16 CFR 255.5, 26 July 2023). Meta's paid partnership label is a start. FTC guidance adds that a platform's own tool may fall short by itself, and that an early mention in a video beats one placed at the end (FTC, read 5 Oct 2026).

Problems that stall a launch

• The creator's account isn't a professional account, so the permission can't be granted until they switch.
• The Reel uses licensed music or an effect that Reels ads can't carry, which means a re-edit after approval.
• A permission is granted for one post, and the brand then wants to run a new cut from raw footage, which needs account-level permission instead.
• Text was placed for the feed, so the Reels interface covers it once the ad runs in the 9:16 placement.

Setup checklist

1. Confirm both sides are eligible, with a professional account or Page each.
2. Choose content-level or account-level permission, depending on whether you will edit new variants.
3. Agree usage terms in writing, including the end date, since codes carry no stated expiry.
4. Check the edit for licensed music and effects that Reels ads can't carry.
5. Keep text inside the safe zone for every placement the ad will run in.
6. Log every permission with its creator, post, campaign and agreed end date.