As it seeks to expand its push into online shopping, Meta has shared a reminder of its various eCommerce and shopping policies, which apply to all businesses and individuals that are looking to sell products and services in its apps, either through Facebook and Instagram Shops, via Facebook Pages or IG profiles, or on Facebook Marketplace.
The refresher serves as a good prompt for brands to re-affirm that they’re clear on their obligations on this front.
As you can see in this overview, Meta has various policies in place to protect on-platform shoppers, and varying requirements for those looking to sell, which, if you are looking to use its apps for such purpose, are important to understand, in order to avoid falling foul of the rules.
For direct reference:
- As per the above overview, all sellers need to adhere to Meta’s Commerce Policies, which outline all of the requirements and obligations for Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram sellers
- In addition to this, those looking to advertise on Meta’s platforms need to follow its documented Commercial Terms which relate to commercial rights, data collection and adherence to local laws
- Sellers need to also agree to Meta’s Merchant Agreement, relating to product safety, tax obligations, payments, etc.
- Meta also has specific policies and regulations on the types of ads that it will allow, and products ineligible for promotion. These policies also relate to data misuse for ad targeting and transparency
- Meta’s Pages, groups and Events Policies meanwhile relate to how you use its apps, with regulations on impersonation, promotions (including competitions) and representation in its apps
- And finally, all users need to follow Facebook’s Community Standards and Instagram’s Community Guidelines, which relate to general usage behaviors and what is and is not allowed in each app.
All of these policies have been recently updated to refer to ‘Meta’ not Facebook, though the regulations remain unchanged. Meta’s also removing a range of detailed ad targeting options that relate to potentially problematic issues and causes later this month, which will impact some of these regulations, but overall, the main policy blocks and business requirements are fairly steady, with the links here connecting you through to the relevant permalinks for each policy document.
It’s a good reminder to stay up to date with these requirements, and ensure that your business is compliant. And with Meta set to make a bigger push on eCommerce throughout 2022, it may well be worth familiarizing yourself with the rules, particularly if your business operates in a regulated category.
