Native advertising and branded content are an area of growth for the digital sphere, and Facebook has launched a new policy in response. No longer will non-transparent advertising appear, instead, the relationship between marketers and posters must be disclosed.

Facebook specifically mentions media companies, celebrities and other influencers in this new policy, saying “We know that many of our partners have existing partnership deals with marketers, and this update gives them the ability to extend their branded content business onto Facebook.”

Verified pages will now have a tool that tags a company or marketer when they’ve paid for content to be posts, which Facebook said must be used. A benefit of this is that marketers will be able to access post-level insights and be able to share and boost the post. Additionally, this creates a greater level of transparency between influencers and their audience.

This policy also draws a distinction between branded content and advertising. “Branded content will go through a review process”, Facebook has said, indicating that non-compliant content will be disapproved or removed. Overly promotional features, such as persistent watermarks and pre-roll advertisements will not be allowed, nor will cover photos or profile pictures that feature third party brands, products or sponsors.

This new policy may challenge marketers to create more engaging, creative content in order to grow their brand. It also means that influencers have a greater ability to earn revenue from Facebook, which had until now a monopoly over advertising on the platform.

Similarly, content producers now have a greater incentive to create content for Facebook, rather than YouTube or other video platforms with attractive policies on branded content and more accessible advertising revenue.