This week · UK food and drink

Food and drink marketing news: Meta delays its new terms to 20 November, product browsing still starts 28 October

Two Meta changes, two dates, and easy to mix up. Here is which date applies to what, what the CMA said, and what a UK food or drink brand should check this week.

By Pasi Sipilä, founder of Ziild · 26 October 2026

In short

Meta's updated Commercial Terms and Self-Serve Ad Terms now take effect on 20 November, not 30 October, and the wording has not changed.

Product browsing, a separate change to your running ads, was reported for 28 October. Treat that date as live until Meta says otherwise.

Meta moves its new terms to 20 November

On 23 October Meta told Reuters it is moving the start date of its updated Commercial Terms and Self-Serve Ad Terms from 30 October to 20 November.

Meta's stated reason: "to allow more time for us to explain to our partners and stakeholders what's changing and what's not." The date has moved. The wording has not.

You accept the terms by carrying on using Meta for business after the start date. So your deemed acceptance is now 20 November. The delay itself needs no action from you.

One snag. PPC Land and Relevant Audience reported that Meta's UK English preview page still showed 30 October on 23 and 24 October. The Keyword says it now carries the new date. Check the page yourself.

This is a summary, not legal advice.

Why food and drink brands should care: the crawling clause

This is not only a publishers' fight. The new terms add a clause to Section 1 letting Meta use automated software and test logins to access, index, cache, copy and re-crawl websites linked to a business that uses its products, according to Nieman Lab and PPC Land.

That covers any business with a Page, an ad account or a product catalogue. Most UK food and drink brands have at least one.

The first draft let Meta use crawled content to "train" its products. Relevant Audience found that sentence gone on 20 October, but the right to crawl stayed. Digital Watch reported the stated purposes are now limited to advertising and business products.

There is no opt-out. If you disagree, Meta's notice tells you to stop using its products for business, as eMarketer reported.

Meta's Andy Stone said on 16 October that nothing changes in how Meta uses web crawlers and that site owners can still use robots.txt. The Keyword notes robots.txt is not mentioned in the contract itself.

This is a summary, not legal advice.

Product browsing: 28 October, a separate change

Do not confuse this with the terms. Trade press reported that from 28 October 2026 Meta adds product browsing to Facebook and Instagram ads that are already running, unless you opt out.

When someone taps your ad, they may first see an in-app page with product details and personalised suggestions before reaching your website.

Meta's notice, as PPC Land reported it, claims 3% more conversions on average in a test from 6 to 21 August 2026 across about 117,700 advertisers. That is Meta's figure, not an independent one.

All the coverage we found predates the 23 October delay. Nothing ties product browsing to the terms, and it is a change to ads rather than to the contract. But no report after 23 October re-confirms the date. Check Ads Manager or Meta's Business Help Centre.

Opt out with the "Opt out" button in Meta's notice.
Or switch it off ad by ad. It already existed as an optional Advantage+ creative setting.

What the CMA said

On 22 October the campaign group Movement for an Open Web complained to the CMA and the European Commission and asked for interim measures, a temporary suspension of the terms. Meta disagreed with the complaint.

A CMA spokesperson told Reuters: "This is an important issue and we recognise the concerns that have been raised by businesses in the UK. We are engaged in urgent discussions with Meta as we consider our next steps."

That is a statement, not an investigation. We found no formal CMA investigation and no interim measures.

The News Media Association's Theo Bamber called the delay "a pause, not a solution". He said the CMA should be ready to start a Strategic Market Status designation, which would let it impose binding conduct rules, if Meta refuses to back down.

The European Commission welcomed the delay, Reuters reported via The Keyword. WAN-IFRA's Stig Ørskov called it "a welcome step, but it does not address our concerns."

ASA rulings: no numbers this week

We set out to cover the latest ASA ruling numbers for food and drink. We could not verify them in time, so we are not printing any.

Rather than guess, check the ASA's rulings page yourself and filter for food, non-alcoholic drinks and alcohol. We will come back to it when we have checked figures.

Which date applies to what, and what to do on Monday

Keep it simple. Three dates, three different things.

28 October: product browsing on by default in running ads. Decide now whether you want it, and opt out if not.
30 October: the old start date for the terms. Replaced, though Meta's preview page may still show it.
20 November: Commercial Terms and Self-Serve Ad Terms take effect. Carrying on using Meta counts as acceptance.
Before 20 November: read Section 1, check which of your sites are linked to your Page, ad account or catalogue, and review your robots.txt with whoever runs your site.
Brief your legal or compliance lead. If you advertise alcohol or less healthy food, someone should own the terms decision.

Questions people ask

When do Meta's new Commercial Terms take effect?

20 November 2026, according to Meta's statement to Reuters on 23 October. The original date was 30 October. This is a summary, not legal advice.

Do I need to do anything to accept the new terms?

No. Carrying on using Meta for business after the start date counts as acceptance. There is no opt-out; Meta's notice says to stop using its products for business if you disagree.

Has the product browsing date moved too?

Coverage before 23 October gave 28 October, and nothing links it to the terms delay. No report after 23 October re-confirms it, so check Ads Manager or Meta's Business Help Centre.

Is the CMA investigating Meta?

Not formally, as far as we found. A CMA spokesperson told Reuters it is in urgent discussions with Meta as it considers next steps.

Does the crawling clause still allow AI training?

Relevant Audience found the word "train" removed from the preview on 20 October, and Digital Watch reported the purposes are now limited to advertising and business products. The right to crawl linked websites remains.

Sources

Written by the Ziild machine from the sources above and approved by Pasi before publishing. Spotted an error? pasi@ziild.co.uk