September 30, 2026 · Daily Radar
"A live stream? Who's going to watch that for our brand?" If you've ever discussed an influencer collaboration, you've probably heard this at least once. And it's a fair objection. Until now, an Instagram live stream was limited to the creator's own followers; whoever happened to catch the stream watched it, and the brand could only send its product and wait.
As of yesterday (September 29), half of that objection is gone. Meta has opened a format to all advertisers that lets a brand run a creator's Instagram live stream as a partnership ad. So the stream is no longer limited to the creator's followers; the brand can put budget behind it and take it to its own target audience. The other half, the question of "will the stream be any good," is still on the table, and in my view that's the real issue.
Quick answer: As of September 29, 2026, Meta has opened partnership ads for Instagram live streams globally, letting brands run a creator's live stream as an ad on their behalf; this format used to exist only on Facebook. It applies to every brand that works with influencers or is planning campaigns for the coming season, and it especially matters to e-commerce and cosmetics brands that do product demos live. Before you put budget behind it, watch the creator's past live streams to see whether they actually talk sales; boosting a bad stream with ads just means spending money on a bad stream.
On September 15, 2026, during IAB's first-ever Global Creator Week, Meta announced a package of updates on the creator ads side. The package has two parts [A]:
Creator Marketing Hub launched globally. The merger announced at the end of June is complete: Creator Marketplace (finding creators) and Partnership Ads Hub (setting up partnership ads), which used to be separate, are now a single panel. What's new in the panel: filters that find creators who already show the brand's product in their content, ad permissions set per piece of content with an expiration date, an editing tool that removes copyrighted music or stickers and gets a post ready for ads, one-click ad creation, and brand-creator messaging inside the panel. Meta says some of these features will roll out gradually through the end of the year.
Instagram live stream ads became generally available on September 29. A format that already existed on Facebook has come to Instagram: a brand can promote a creator's live stream as a partnership ad. In Meta's own words, access is global, for "all advertisers and agencies."
The same day, there were two changes on the developer side too: Facebook creators were added to the Creator Marketplace API (previously it covered Instagram only), and a Messaging API arrived that lets brands reach creators through the API. This part mostly matters to influencer platforms and large agencies.
I confirmed the news from Meta's own announcement and two independent publications (MediaPost, Marketing Dive). I should mention that Turkey isn't named separately on this list; Meta says "global," and the official announcement doesn't say how the panel looks for accounts in Turkey.
Meta's announcement leans on two numbers, both from IAB's 2025 Creator Economy report: 45% of consumer purchases are influenced by creator recommendations, and creator ad spend has reached $37 billion globally, growing 4 times faster than overall media spend [B]. These are figures from industry research weighted toward the US; I don't know of comparable data for Turkey with a transparent methodology, so I'm not applying these numbers to Turkey one-to-one.
What matters to me isn't the numbers, it's the structural change. Here's why:
In influencer collaborations, the toughest negotiation has always been "how many people will this content reach?" The creator's follower count is known; their reach isn't. Partnership ads hand that question to the brand: the post goes out from the creator's account, under their name, but the brand's ad account decides who sees it. This already existed for posts and Reels. What's new is that the format where the most selling happens, the live stream, now gets this mechanism too.
Time-limited permissions look small but are actually a big change. Until now, when a creator granted "ad permission," when it would end was usually written in the contract, not in the panel. The campaign ended, the permission stayed open, and the brand ran the post in ads again months later; I suspect few agencies haven't been through that argument. Now the end date can be set in the panel.
In Turkey: there's also a legal side. According to the social media influencer guide adopted by the Turkish Advertising Board (part of the Turkish Ministry of Trade) on May 4, 2021, in a live stream the fact that it's an ad, the advertiser's name, and the fact that a fee or gift was received must be disclosed in writing or verbally, in a way that's clear at first glance [A]. Meta's partnership ad label may cover part of this. But someone watching the stream organically doesn't see that label, so in my view saying it out loud at the start of the stream is still a must. This isn't legal advice, of course; I'm writing my own reading after looking at the text of the guide.
| Before September 29 | After September 29 | |
|---|---|---|
| Reach of the live stream | The creator's followers and whoever happens to catch it | The audience the brand targets with its budget can see it too |
| Live stream partnership ads | Facebook only | Facebook and Instagram |
| Duration of ad permission | Mostly in the contract, not in the panel | End date per piece of content in the panel |
| Finding creators | Marketplace and Partnership Ads Hub separate | One panel, product-based filters |
| Ad disclosure (Turkey's guide) | The creator must state it in the stream | Unchanged, still required |
Open one recent live stream from each of three creators you work with or want to work with, and note two things: at what minute the product name first comes up, and how many of the first 30 comments are about the product. You don't need to buy anything. These two numbers will tell you more honestly than any panel metric whether that stream is worth putting ad budget behind.
Let me add one caveat. Whenever a new ad format opens up, everyone wants to be the first to try it before Q4. In my view, being first isn't an advantage with this format; a live stream ad is only as good as the stream itself. Doing two or three organic streams with the same creator first and seeing which one actually drives sales will hurt less than putting your budget on the very first stream.
| News | Why people are talking about it | Who it affects |
|---|---|---|
| OpenAI DevDay (September 29): always-on agents in ChatGPT ("dots") and plugins that work like apps inside ChatGPT | The question of how brands will exist inside ChatGPT is open again; the details are only now becoming clear | Anyone looking to automate their processes → AI automation |
| Google's September spam update is still rolling out | It started on September 24 and can take up to two weeks; the first big wave hit over the weekend | Sites whose traffic dropped → SEO management |
| Search Console added a filter for visual search (Lens, Circle to Search) | For the first time, traffic from visual search can be seen separately per page; there's no query text | E-commerce sites heavy on product images → SEO management |
| WhatsApp service messages become paid tomorrow (October 1) | Service replies above 1,000 messages a month per number are charged | Anyone providing customer service on WhatsApp → AI assistant |
| The window for automatic migration to Google Ads AI Max closes today | Broad match campaigns were moved to AI Max throughout September | Anyone running search campaigns → Google Ads |
| TikTok Shop launched label-free returns through UPS's Happy Returns network (September 29, US) | For the first time, return costs in social commerce are being tackled at this scale; there's no equivalent in Turkey | Brands looking at social commerce → Social media management |
Yes. Partnership ads require the creator to grant the brand ad permission, and live streams fall under the same mechanism. In the new panel, you can also set an end date for that permission.
Meta said Instagram Live video ads "will be globally available to all advertisers and agencies." The official announcement doesn't mention accounts in Turkey separately; if you don't see it in your panel yet, it may be rolling out gradually.
I don't think it's enough on its own. The Turkish Ministry of Trade's guide requires that, in a live stream, the fact that it's an ad, the advertiser, and the fee or gift information be clear at first glance. Since someone watching the stream organically doesn't see the ad label, saying it out loud at the start of the stream is the safest route. If you're in doubt, talk to a lawyer.
If you want to plan your influencer collaborations together with your ad account, take a look at our influencer marketing page, and for the budget side, our Meta ads page. If you'd like to see where you stand first:
In plain language, I explain how to find the right content creator, how to check whether their audience is real, and how the ad disclosure rule works. There's also a checklist you can tick off before you sign.
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