Brands, It’s Time to Get Verified – Meta Rolls Out Tempting Updates

Here’s a simple, yet potentially impactful update for Meta’s Advantage+ Catalog campaigns.Now, you can add “dynamic overlays” to your catalog ads, showing price, discounts, etc., presented as a sticker type element on the product image.As explained by Facebook:“With dynamic overlays, you can show information from your catalog such as prices or discounts in a label on your ad media. This enhancement will currently only deliver to Facebook feed. Before you begin, make sure your catalog contains the correct product data.You’ll be able to present four different offer types in these updated displays:Price: Show the current priceStrikethrough price: Show the sale price with the original price crossed outPercentage off: Show the sale price with the percentage off the original priceFree shipping: Show free shipping info to people if it’s available in their location (to show free shipping, the product’s shipping cost must be set to 0.0 in your catalog).Meta says that Advantage+ advertisers can also choose apply the most relevant overlays automatically, by selecting this option in the overlays element.It’s a handy addition, and with Meta’s AI-powered Advantage+ ads driving better response, it could help to drive more results from your promotions.Though it is more of a tweak than an update.As noted by Swipe Insight, the function is the same as Meta’s labels for catalog items, which it’s now re-named “Dynamic Overlays” instead.A per Swipe Insight: “The functionality remains largely the same, allowing users to either let Meta automatically apply labels or manually customize them in terms of shape, font, position, and color. A notable improvement is the ability to toggle each label type (price, strikethrough price, percentage off, free shipping) on or off individually, whereas previously only one label type could be selected at a time.”So it’s not entirely new, but it’s an update to its variable offer display, which could provide more means to grab attention with your promotions in-stream.Facebook has offered similar on feed ads for years, with dynamic overlays.And now, you’ll be able to initiative them for its AI-powered Advantage+ ad as well, providing more options to customize and improve your ad presentation in its apps.Another consideration for your Meta ads approach.📢 If you're interested in Facebook-related solutions, don't hesitate to connect with us!🔹 Telegram🔹Facebook💬 We're always ready to assist you!

The European Union Commission has hit Meta with yet another big fine, this time for breaches of its data consent regulations, relating to the way in which Meta has sought to offer EU users alternatives to avoid providing their personal info for ad targeting purposes.The penalty specifically relates to Meta’s alternative subscription offering in Europe.Back in 2023, Meta launched its ad-free subscription option to European users, in response to EU rules which dictate that social platforms must offer users an opt-out from targeted ads. The solution here seemed fairly simple, and in a business operation sense, fair, with Meta announcing that EU users could indeed opt out of having their personal data used for ad targeting by paying €9.99 per month to keep using its apps.That means that Meta’s not losing out, as a result of related impacts to its ad business by users refusing to share their data, while EU users would have a clear option to restrict their personal info, if they so choose.But various advisory groups challenged Meta’s subscription alternative, arguing that it undermined the focus of the GDPR, and its protections against “data capitalism.” That led to more scrutiny from EU officials, which saw Meta then offer to halve the price of the option in order to make it more accessible, and appease concerns.EU regulators are still considering Meta’s alternative options on this front, but based on the period of time within which Meta has already offered its subscription package, the EU Commission has fined Meta €200 million for Digital Markets Act (DMA) breaches.Which, as you would expect, Meta is not happy about:“The European Commission is attempting to handicap successful American businesses while allowing Chinese and European companies to operate under different standards. This isn’t just about a fine; the Commission forcing us to change our business model effectively imposes a multi-billion-dollar tariff on Meta while requiring us to offer an inferior service. And by unfairly restricting personalized advertising the European Commission is also hurting European businesses and economies.”The language used by Meta’s recently appointed Chief Global Affairs Officer Joel Kaplan here is important, as it invokes both anti-American sentiment and foreign trade tariffs, both of which the Trump Administration is super keen to address.Well, super keen in terms of public statements either way.Earlier this year, for example, the chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) publicly criticized the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA), which he says is “incompatible with America’s free speech tradition.” Vice President JD Vance also criticized EU regulations, while Trump himself has also threatened European imports with tariffs in penalty for tech regulations that harm U.S. companies.Trump, of course, has also implemented massive tariffs on virtually every nation, for perceived imbalances in U.S. trade. Most of those tariffs have since been suspended, or are being reviewed, with a view to lifting them once again. But the Trump team’s moves do show that the new administration does seemingly intend to help U.S. companies fight back against penalties of this type.And Meta’s hoping to prompt U.S. government support to push back on this new penalty.Which makes sense.Over the past few years, Meta has been fined over a billion U.S. dollars per year by EU authorities, related to data breaches, the linking of Facebook Marketplace to Facebook, alleged tax fraud, and more.And some of these penalties do seem like a tax on Meta’s success, as opposed to addressing actual market violations.For example, several nations have sought to tax Meta for the use of local publisher content in its apps. That’s despite Meta stepping back from news content entirely, and repeatedly noting (correctly) that publishers gain far more from its apps than it gains from their material.Regulations like this seem less aimed at addressing market imbalance, and more aligned with penalizing Meta, and other U.S. tech platforms, for their relative success in winning local ad market share. And Meta and Google do dominate regional ad spend, in many markets, but that’s predominantly because their products are more valuable, not because they’ve squeezed out local providers through anti-competitive practices.But under pressure from local corporations, who are also often big political donors, many regulators have been forced to act. Which has, undoubtedly, led to the development of some policies that seek to penalize the tech giants, as opposed to addressing any other area of concern.As such, Meta should push back, but it can’t do it alone. It’ll need the backing of the U.S. government, which, again, does seem to be on the cards.Now we just need to see it.Trump and his team have said they’ll support U.S. companies in such actions, but thus far, they’ve done nothing to stop the fines coming Meta’s way.Maybe, this latest penalty will see the Trump team initiate a stronger defense.UPDATE (4/24): The White House has criticized the latest round of EU fines, both for Meta and Apple, labeling them a “novel form of economic extortion.” The U.S. government has said that it will not tolerate such efforts, but hasn’t announced any reciprocal measures as yet.📢 If you're interested in Facebook-related solutions, don't hesitate to connect with us!🔹 Telegram🔹Facebook💬 We're always ready to assist you!

Meta’s adding some new elements to its paid verification offering for brands, including a sneaky new in-app warning that’ll push more businesses towards subscribing to its blue tick subscription service.First off, Meta’s testing out a new option that will enable Meta Verified profiles to tag their content as “Original”, which will then see all reposts linked back to the original content.As you can see in these example screens, Meta Verified subscribers will now see a new “Request original credit” toggle in their post creation options, which will enable them to request a human review to then flag that this specific post was originally posted by their account. That’ll then mean that any usage of that content in other posts will include a link back to the original creator profile, which could be good for brands looking to encourage participatory content, essentially giving them another promotion option through any additional takes on the post.For example, a brand could run a competition where users are encouraged to create their own version of a new promotion. With this setting, every single re-creation would then be linked back to the brand’s profile, which, depending on the popularity of the concept, could give your brand awareness efforts a big boost.It’s an interesting addition either way, and another carrot to get more people paying for Meta’s verification package.Though “verification” in this sense no longer means what it once did. It used to be that the verification checkmark signaled a notable brand or entity, a symbol of popularity to some degree, helping to combat impersonation.But now, anyone can buy one, so it’s not really an indicator of notoriety, though Meta does want to ensure that it remains a viable option for proving identity.On this front, Meta says that it’s testing a new in-stream pop-up that will warn users when they’re engaging with profiles that are not verified.As per Meta:“People report the verified badge is a helpful signal when deciding whether to engage with a business they don’t already know. To help people more easily assess whether a business account is Meta Verified before engaging, we’re testing new in-app education that more clearly tells people when a business account is not yet Meta Verified.”So, essentially, Meta’s going to warn users when they go to contact a non-verified business profile that this business may not be trustworthy, because it’s not verified.That’ll get a lot of businesses to seriously consider its blue tick option, because if people are being warned not to engage with non-verified accounts, that could have a big impact on your Facebook and IG opportunities.It’s a somewhat sneaky move by Meta, considering that the vast majority of businesses aren’t currently paying for its add-on verification service (based on Meta’s performance reports, it looks like around 7.7 million people/brands in total have signed up to the program). But if it pushes more businesses to sign-up for its paid subscription service, that’s obviously a win for the company, and there is some level of actual verification within Meta’s sign-up process, as opposed to X, which does little to no checking on who its “verifying.”So Meta can justifiably use this as a lever to warn users about engaging with non-verified accounts, and that will get more people to pay for its add-on blue tick program.And there are, of course, other benefits as well. Meta says Verified subscribers are seeing more engagement, due to increased in-feed recommendations, and appearing near the top of search results.So there are other reasons that you might want to sign-up anyway. And with the basic package starting at $21.99 per month per Facebook Page or Instagram account (or $34.99 a month for both), these new pushes will no doubt spark more interest.But it feels a little disingenuous, while it’ll also only take one mistaken verification to seed distrust in the whole program.But it’s another path for Meta to bring in more revenue, so it’s no surprise to see it looking to boost take-up. Meta says it will be testing its new warnings on engagement with non-verified accounts “with a small subset of our community over the next few months.”📢 If you're interested in Facebook-related solutions, don't hesitate to connect with us!🔹 Telegram🔹Facebook💬 We're always ready to assist you!