If you run Facebook or Instagram ads using 'worldwide' targeting, or targeting EU audiences specifically, you will soon have to update your Meta ad targeting processes.

As part of the The EU Digital Services Act (DSA), which now requires Meta to provide more information on ad targeting, Meta is adding new elements when EU targeting is selected, which will prompt advertisers to specify a 'beneficiary' and 'payer' for each campaign.

According to Meta:

As part of our efforts to make transparency for businesses and people and in response to EU regulations, we will require advertisers to designate who benefits from their ads (beneficiary) and who is paying for their ads (payer) for all Facebook and Instagram ads that target the EU, associated territories, or select global/worldwide.
Now, when you choose an EU audience, you will see these new fields, and you will have to select a response for each.

The 'payer' and 'beneficiary' information is set up to provide more clarity on the source for each Facebook and IG ad - which, in most cases, will mean you simply add your business name in both fields.

Although there are specific regulations around such, and it is important that advertisers understand the new requirement as outlined by Meta's team.

You can read more about the updated requirements here.

Meta's also announced some new updates to its Marketing API, in line with the same, which will mean that developers will need to update their API usage.

This information will be required on all ad creation surfaces starting June 21. By the end of August, beneficiary and payer information will be available in the Ad Library and the Ad Library API for all ads that are created on or after June 22, 2023 and that serve an impression to the EU or its territories.

The update marks the latest in a series of regulatory changes for online ads, which already saw Meta face huge fines for non-compliance with particular elements of its evolving codes.

Indeed, just last month, Meta was fined €1.2 billion – the equivalent of $1.3 billion USD – after transferring EU user data back to the US without explicit permission or adequate protections in place.

EU regulators continue to push for more transparency and control options for users, and with each update, Meta needs to evolve its systems accordingly or risk similar penalties in future.

It's another wrinkle in the Meta ads process, which will impact all brands that market to EU users.