📰 Meta Ads, Amazon Ads and other platforms news

At unBoxed 2026, Amazon announced Amazon Ads Agent, a unified platform with agentic AI combining the former Ads Console and Amazon DSP, along with new Full-Funnel Campaigns and DVA+.

Amazon announced Sponsored Services to connect shoppers with local service providers (with Yelp as the anchor partner) and generative AI creative tools built directly into the Amazon Ads Agent conversational experience.

Meta now lets brands amplify a creator's live Instagram broadcast as a paid advertisement, extending a feature that already exists on Facebook to Instagram for the first time.

Reddit announced general availability of its Max campaigns, which automate targeting, creative selection and rotation, placements, and budget allocation, after testing them with a limited group of advertisers since January 2026.

Full-Funnel Campaigns combines sponsored ads, display, video and streaming TV into a single AI-managed campaign, and is now available to all US advertisers selling on Amazon.

The FTC and 22 state attorneys general are suing Amazon, alleging it secretly overcharged advertisers in its search ad auctions for more than seven years, rising from 30-40% of auctions in 2021 to about 80% by 2024.

Amazon and OpenAI launched a managed-service pilot placing Amazon DSP ads inside ChatGPT responses, with product feed ads auto-generated from Amazon catalogs, US-only at launch.

Amazon Ads introduced a new tier of tools on its Ads MCP Server allowing third-party AI agents to access specialized capabilities; the first, the AMC SQL Generator, translates natural-language requests into validated Amazon Marketing Cloud SQL queries and is now in closed beta in the US.

Amazon Ads unveiled its new "Amazon Ads Agent" platform at unBoxed 2026, replacing the former Ads Console and Amazon DSP with three campaign types: Sponsored Ads, Display, Video and Audio+ (DVA+), and Full-Funnel Campaigns, all powered by AI with a natural-language chat experience.

Meta and YouTube confirmed they will accept advertising for director Alex Gibney's upcoming Elon Musk documentary, following earlier reports that several social platforms had rejected the ads.

Starting August 10, Amazon Sponsored Products campaigns began serving inside Amazon Influencer Program creator content with no advertiser action required, sparking controversy over the lack of clear notice about the expansion.

Meta introduced its official Ads CLI, a tool that enables system user token setup and campaign management commands, compatible with AI assistants like Claude Code or Codex.

Amazon Ads launched location-based interactive video ads and 'Next Up' ads that appear between episodes on Prime Video, expanding its streaming advertising offering in Australia.

Meta no longer requires matching Instagram and Threads usernames to run Threads ads, letting brands with no Instagram profile advertise directly on the platform.

Meta launched a new Creative Diversity rating inside Ads Manager that scores the creative variety of advertisers' campaigns.

At its 2026 Upfront, Amazon Ads highlighted its authenticated audience graph covering 90% of U.S. households and being named the only leader in omnichannel advertising by Forrester, alongside growth in Prime Video viewership.

Bing is testing a "Top Pick" label on its sponsored result product carousels, highlighting a potential new way for products to stand out in search results. The "Top Pick" label is prominently displayed in the product carousel, potentially drawing more eyes to specific listings. This update was shared.

Starting September 29, Meta made live video ads generally available on Instagram, allowing brands to sponsor creator livestreams as partnership ads.

Snapchat announced it will focus on AI-driven performance improvements and expanding native ad formats like Reminder Ads and Sponsored Snaps, amid stalled user growth in the US and EU.

Amazon Ads announced that its Amazon Ads MCP Server is now available in open beta, aiming to reduce advertising workflow complexity through AI agent integration.

Snapchat, Pinterest and Reddit are leveraging AI tools to make ad buying easier for small and medium businesses, aiming to diversify revenue beyond major brand budgets.

Reddit introduced a Split Testing feature in Ads Manager offering five test types, including Max-vs-standard campaign comparisons, to optimize ad performance.

Meta released its own first-party MCP (Model Context Protocol) server for ads, enabling AI agents to connect directly to ad account management.

Meta introduced Meta One on September 15, a four-tier paid subscription that gates previously free features like Competitive Insights and Custom Audience Insights, available across Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Meta AI.

Amazon Ads officially announced that its flagship unBoxed 2026 conference will take place from September 28–30 at the Moscone West Convention Center in San Francisco, expected to bring new ad formats, AI capabilities, and measurement tools. The event will gather advertisers, agencies, and developers to learn about upcoming platform innovations.

Snapchat introduced Total Snap Takeovers, a format placing brands in the first ad slot across all app tabs, and opened its ads platform to third-party AI agents via its own MCP server.

Amazon Ads confirmed its flagship unBoxed 2026 event will take place September 28-30 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, where it will unveil new AI-powered advertising products.

Amazon Ads announced a partnership with OpenAI to enable conversational advertising within ChatGPT, with select U.S. advertisers currently testing the format as part of a pilot.

Meta's Marketing API v24.0 sunsets on October 6, 2026, and on October 27 the v26.0 field removals extend to all remaining API versions, affecting developers and integration tools.

X is rolling out a new ad platform that consolidates campaign objectives and standardizes structure, including ad-group-level budgets and simplified optimization options.

Amazon Ads announced that Prime Video advertising will be introduced in Belgium, Denmark, Norway, and Turkey during 2026, expanding its streaming ad inventory in Europe.

TikTok struck a first-of-its-kind IP licensing deal with Disney that turns fan content into a formal distribution channel, amid a month of major regulatory and platform shifts.

Reddit introduced a new 15-second Engaged Video Views optimization goal that lifted view-through rates by 51% and completion rates by 71% in alpha testing, suited for trailers and testimonials.

Starting August 1, a specific group of Amazon advertisers contacted directly lost the ability to use a credit card as their primary ad payment method, with costs now deducted from seller/vendor account balance or via Pay by Invoice. Amazon clarified the change is narrow and does not affect most advertisers, who were already paying via account balance deduction.

Pacvue, a commerce operating system for retail media, integrated Reddit Ads in 2026 so brands can buy and track campaigns alongside more than one hundred retail media networks like Amazon and Walmart.

Meta announced new AI-powered tools to boost purchases from livestreams working with platforms like CommentSold and Firework, and rolled out 'Post-view ads,' a new ad format for Instagram Reels.

The FTC and 22 state attorneys general filed suit against Amazon alleging it secretly inflated prices in its advertising auctions after 2019 rule changes, potentially costing advertisers more than $20 billion.

Reddit launched Max campaigns on a limited basis in January 2026 and, after encouraging initial results, opened them to all advertisers in September 2026; the tool automates nearly the entire ad creation process.

Amazon Ads invited advertisers to its annual flagship conference, where it will share how AI and new advertising solutions aim to make it easier for brands of every size to drive results.

Meta now allows advertisers to build custom audiences specifically for excluding groups such as existing customers or opted-out users, helping avoid wasted budget on unwanted audiences.