Meta expands AI-powered advertising with Live Video Ads and affiliate tools across 3.5 billion users

Meta expands Live Video Ads, affiliate tools and AI ads across its apps

Meta has announced new updates at Cannes 2026 focused on how people discover and purchase products across Facebook and Instagram. The company said 3.5 billion users across its apps are part of a shift where product discovery increasingly happens inside content, creator posts, and conversations, powered by its AI-driven systems. The updates expand live commerce tools, affiliate integrations, checkout options, and AI-based advertising built on product data. Live Video Ads and live shopping tools Meta is expanding Live Video Ads to Instagram and rolling them out globally on Facebook to support livestream promotion and audience reach. In the US, Meta is working with live commerce platforms including CommentSold, Firework, LiveMeUp, Sprii, and TalkShopLive to convert eligible livestreams into ad formats that can reach new audiences. On Facebook, Live Shopping Tools allow users to browse products, view pricing, and explore items directly inside livestreams. These tools work alongside Live Video Ads to enable in-stream shopping experiences. Virtual cards for secure checkout Meta is introducing a checkout system using virtual cards in partnership with Mastercard and Visa, enabling faster and more secure payments on Facebook and Instagram. The system generates temporary one-time card numbers linked to existing Mastercard or Visa accounts. This allows users to complete purchases without sharing their actual card details with businesses, improving transaction security during checkout. Affiliate expansion and creator commerce tools Meta is expanding its affiliate program across Facebook and Instagram with new marketplace partners. * Flipkart in India * Mercado Libre in Brazil and Mexico * Lazada coming soon in Asia Creators can connect affiliate accounts, tag products from business catalogs, and add affiliate links directly into content, with commissions generated from purchases made through these links. On Instagram, creators in 22 countries can also tag products or add affiliate links directly from business catalogs in Reels and Feed. Flipkart affiliate tools are also extending to Instagram creators in India. AI-powered ads and product data system Meta is making product data a core input across all Sales campaigns, changing how ads are structured across its platforms. Product details such as title, price, availability, and description are now used across multiple ad formats. Meta's AI automatically matches products with relevant audiences and generates optimized ad formats in real time using both product data and advertiser-provided creative assets. This removes the need to manually select ad types, with Meta's system assembling and delivering the most relevant ad variations for each user automatically. AI-driven shopping ecosystem integration Meta is integrating product data into its wider AI ecosystem, including the Meta AI shopping experience in the Meta AI app (US), Business Agent recommendations, and creator product tagging in Reels and Feed. This connects discovery and purchase across Meta's apps through AI-driven recommendations and automation.

Cannes 2026: New Ways to Turn Discovery Into Purchase on Meta

AI is changing how people discover and buy products. Today, people find products inside the content they're already watching through the creators they trust and via the conversations they're having. Across Meta's apps, 3.5 billion people are experiencing this shift every day, and our AI-enabled discovery engine is what makes it possible, surfacing more relevant products and content than ever before. Now, leading into the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, we're making more of those moments shoppable with new live video ads to drive awareness of shopping streams, expanded affiliate partnerships to help creators earn commission from tagged products, and faster checkout via virtual cards. * Live Video Ads: We're bringing Live Video Ads to Instagram and expanding them globally on Facebook, making it easier for businesses to promote their live videos, reach new audiences, and drive commerce across both apps. In the U.S., we're working with live commerce platforms, including CommentSold, Firework, LiveMeUp, Sprii and TalkShopLive, so sellers can turn eligible livestreams into an ad that reaches new customers. * Live Shopping Tools: On Facebook, marketers can use Live Shopping Tools with live video ads to create an in-stream shopping experience. Viewers can browse products, check pricing, and discover items to buy - all without leaving the live video. * Faster Checkout with New Virtual Cards: Starting this summer, we are rolling out a new shopping experience on Facebook and Instagram that utilizes virtual cards. This feature allows shoppers to use temporary, one-time card numbers generated from their existing Mastercard or Visa accounts. By enabling transactions without requiring the direct sharing of credit card details with businesses, this aims to enhance consumer security and increase purchase confidence. * New Affiliate Partners: We're continuing to expand our Facebook affiliate partners, with Flipkart in India and Mercado Libre in Brazil and Mexico. Soon, we'll bring Lazada to Facebook creators in Asia and Flipkart to Instagram creators in India. Creators can now connect affiliate accounts to Facebook and Instagram and add affiliate product links from these businesses directly into their content for a better consumer experience. When someone purchases a product through a creator's post, the creator earns a commission from the affiliate partner making it easy and simple for both to benefit. * Add Products on Instagram: Creators in 22 countries can now add affiliate links or tag products from a business' catalog directly on Instagram. Businesses can make their catalogs discoverable for creators to search and tag, and creators can add affiliate links that direct people to specific products. When creators feature products in Reels and Feed, people discover and purchase products while browsing, and creators can earn commission through the affiliate links they share. We've heard from advertisers that catalog ads perform well, but they are looking for more ways beyond product images on a white background to inspire customers and meet their brand guidelines. Today, they have to fragment campaigns where performance-driving product data like product title, price, availability, and description are only used in certain ad types. This summer, we are changing that: product data is becoming a foundational input across all Sales campaigns, so Meta's AI can automatically match the right products to the right people in the most effective format anytime an advertiser chooses a Sales campaign. Instead of manually choosing between different ad types, advertisers will provide both their product data and creative assets, and our ads system will assemble the best-performing ad for each viewer in real time. Product data doesn't just enable better ads, it's also a key way to show up across Meta's growing ecosystem of shoppable experiences. When advertisers invest in their product data, they're enabling their products to surface in Meta AI Shopping mode available to US users in the Meta AI app, recommendations from Business Agents, and creator product tagging in Reels. People are finding products in new ways, and now, purchasing can happen just as naturally. Next week at Cannes, we'll show how they connect to a broader AI system that's delivering more ROI for businesses than ever.