How Multi-Advertiser Ads Work

It’s not a placementA placement is a location where your ad is shown. Examples include Facebook's mobile Feed, Messenger, Instagram feed, Audience Network, right-hand column, and more. More. It’s not really a special ad unit. I’ve been asked so many times about what Multi-Advertiser Ads are and whether we should turn them on.

Let’s provide some clarity in this post.

What Are They?

Here’s how multi-advertiser adsAdvertisers can opt-in to Multi-Advertiser Ads when creating an ad. When checked, their product can appear alongside other similar products when a user has shown purchase intent by engaging with another product. More work…

If a potential shopper engages with an ad, a multi-advertiser carouselA carousel allows you to display two or more scrollable images or videos in the same ad, with the ability to link each to a different URL. More may appear below it. This allows you the potential of getting your product noticed by someone who is in a shopping mindset and engaging with similar products.

Here are examples on Instagram (on the left) and Facebook (on the right).

If someone engages with the ad at the top, a carousel will appear below it (with the label “You might like” on Instagram or “More for you” on Facebook). The products tend to be related (though they don’t appear to be in the Instagram example).

The potential benefit here is that you get to reachReach measures the number of Accounts Center Accounts (formerly users) that saw your ads at least once. You can have one account reached with multiple impressions. More people while they are in a buying mindset and engaging with a product in a similar category.

Placements

This sounds like it could be a placement, but it’s not. Instead, it’s a segment of a placement. If you turn multi-advertiser ads on, they will run in the following locations:

Facebook Feed
Facebook Watch
Facebook Stories
Instagram Feed

This appears to be an evolving list. Initially, Meta indicated that multi-advertiser ads were only for Facebook Feed and Instagram Feed. Facebook Watch and Facebook Stories have since been added, so it’s possible that when you see this it will apply to other placements as well.

Opt In or Out

When creating an ad, you’ll see a checkbox for multi-advertiser ads.

It says:

Enabling this may increase your ad’s exposure to people in a shopping mindset by allowing this ad to appear alongside ads from multiple businesses.

To turn this on, all you need to do is click that checkbox. Assuming you utilize any of the placements where multi-advertiser ads may appear, people may see your ads in these carousels.

That’s it. There’s nothing special you need to do with your copy or imagery.

That Initial Ad…

What about that first ad in this example? If someone engages with that ad, the multi-advertiser carousel appears below it. Is there a way to prevent multi-advertiser ads from appearing below your ad?

Meta doesn’t clearly specify this, but I assume that’s why they use the “opt in” language when checking the checkbox, rather than “turn it on.” My assumption is that if you don’t check the box, you won’t participate in multi-advertiser ads in any way. Not within the carousel, and you won’t have a multi-advertiser carousel appear below your ad.

It’s not a confident assumption on my part unless Meta says it, but it would be my most logical one.

Measurement

Since multi-advertiser ads don’t represent a unique placement or ad unit, it makes measurement and evaluation of performance challenging. Unless there’s something I’m missing, you won’t be able to isolate the performance of your ad for this multi-advertiser scenario.

You can break down your results by placement and you’ll see results for the placements where multi-advertiser ads can appear. But those results will include when your ad appears normally as well as within a multi-advertiser carousel.

Does it work? Does it help you? I have no idea. I’m not sure there’s a way to be sure.

Should You Opt In?

I’m not painting a glowing picture of multi-advertiser ads to this point. There’s nothing particularly special about them. You can’t measure whether they work. So, you probably shouldn’t opt in, right?

Not necessarily. Here’s how I look at it…

Like so many of Meta’s ad features, multi-advertiser ads should only be used to help you. The algorithm’s primary goal is to get the results you are optimizing for. In theory, your ads should only be used in this way if it provides a benefit.

I assume this will also make up a very small percentage of your overall views. And when those views happen, it may help that the person seeing your ad is in a “shopping mindset” at the time.

I know some advertisers have complained about the idea of appearing alongside a competitor. I don’t really understand that argument. Is your preference that your competitor appears in multi-advertiser ads without you?

Of course, I would understand the argument that preventing the carousel from appearing below your ad could be in your best interests (assuming that you can prevent it by opting out). For example, someone engages with your ad and is thinking about purchasing, but then sees a similar product and buys that instead. That would be bad.

But that’s also the nature of the universe. There are distractions everywhere. If you are afraid you’d lose business in this way, it also means that you could benefit if you were the advertiser in the carousel.

Personally, I see no strong argument for opting out. I mostly opt in and leave it on. But since we are unlikely to notice any difference one way or the other, I have a difficult time talking you into it.

Do what you’re comfortable with. You do you.