Glossary
What is whitelisting in partnership ads?
Whitelisting is the habit of a brand running paid ads from a creator’s own account, with the creator’s permission. Meta’s documentation calls the product partnership ads. Here is what the permission covers and what the creator can still control.
Updated 6 October 2026
A brand runs ads that appear to come from a creator’s own handle, after the creator has approved it. Meta’s name for this is partnership ads.
What Meta says partnership ads are
Meta’s Partnership Ads API page says partnership ads let you “run Facebook and Instagram ads from a creator or other partner’s handle”. Using the creator’s handle means the ad features the creator’s voice when the content runs on Meta’s platforms. Agencies often say whitelisting for the same arrangement. Meta’s pages we read use the name partnership ads, so use that word when you search Meta’s own help.
The key point is permission. An ad cannot run from a creator’s handle just because a brand wants it. The creator has to grant access, and Meta describes two levels of it.
Post-level and account-level permission
| Level | What the creator grants | What the brand can then do |
|---|---|---|
| Post-level | Permission to promote one organic branded content post | Run that single post as a partnership ad |
| Account-level | Accepts a permission request in the Instagram app | Create ads from the handle without a pre-existing post, or from existing posts that tag the brand |
On Instagram, Meta lists what counts as tagging the brand for account-level use: the paid partnership label, an @ mention, people tags, product tags or Instagram Collabs. The account-level page also says a brand can include or exclude the creator’s audience in the campaign.
Permissions can be taken back. The developer pages show a revoke action, and a permission can be pending or revoked as well as approved. Treat the permission as a live status you can check, not a one-off yes.
Brand-side controls and Facebook
Brands can also restrict who may tag them in the paid partnership label. When that restriction is on, only creators on the brand’s approved list can tag it. The post-level page describes adding, removing and checking creators on that list.
On Facebook the equivalent is branded content: a creator’s Page post names a brand partner, and the creator chooses whether the partner may boost it directly. Meta’s branded content guide says the creator needs a verified Facebook Page or profile and must follow Meta’s Branded Content Policy and Ads Policy.
Tip: Agree in writing how long the permission lasts, who pays for the spend and when the creator can ask to switch it off. Meta gives you the switch, but it does not set the commercial terms for you.
An example
A skincare brand pays a creator for one Reel and, in the same deal, asks for account-level permission. After the creator accepts the request in the Instagram app, the brand runs the Reel as an ad from the creator’s handle for a month.
Questions people ask
What does whitelisting mean on Instagram?
It means a brand runs ads from a creator’s own Instagram handle with the creator’s permission. Meta’s documentation calls these partnership ads, and the creator grants either permission for one post or account-level permission.
Is whitelisting the same as partnership ads?
In practice, yes. Whitelisting is the older agency shorthand and partnership ads is the name in Meta’s documentation. Both describe a brand running ads from a creator’s handle after approval.
Does the brand get the creator’s password?
No. Meta’s pages describe a permission flow: the brand sends a request, the creator accepts it in the Instagram app, and the permission can later be revoked. The pages we read do not involve sharing a login.
Can the creator take the permission back?
Yes. The account-level documentation includes a revoke action and lists statuses such as pending and revoked. Agree the length of the deal with the creator, because the permission can end earlier than planned.
Does it work on Facebook as well?
Meta’s documentation covers both. Instagram uses the paid partnership label and permissions. Facebook uses branded content posts where the creator names a brand partner and decides whether it may boost the post.
Sources
Related terms
- Influencer marketingA way to promote a product by working with creators who have their own audience, paying them, gifting them or sharing sales, so their followers see it from them.
- Micro-influencerA creator with a relatively small but focused audience, often in one niche, whom brands work with because their followers tend to know them and listen.
- Brand ambassadorSomeone who represents a company over a longer period, usually by using and promoting its products to their own audience. Payment can be money, products or a commission.
- Collab postA collab post is one Instagram post or Reel co-authored by two or more accounts, shown on each profile with a single shared set of likes and comments.
- User-generated content (UGC)Content such as photos, videos and reviews made by your customers or fans, not by your brand, and later shared or featured by the brand with the creator’s consent.
- Click-to-Messenger adsAds that open a Messenger conversation with your Facebook Page when someone taps them, instead of loading a website. The first message is a greeting you can customise.
More terms
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