Meta’s partnership ads just became one of the most important signals in paid social. On Meta’s Q3 2026 earnings call, CFO Susan Li said the format grew more than 97% year over year and passed $15 billion in annual revenue run rate.
The comparison matters: Meta reported a $10 billion run rate for partnership ads just two quarters earlier. A run rate annualises recent revenue rather than reporting it as a separate line, but the direction is unmistakable.
Partnership ads are paid placements that run under a creator’s or partner’s identity with the brand alongside. They let advertisers borrow creator trust and creative style while keeping Meta’s targeting, optimisation and measurement.
Why this matters for growth teams
This turns creators into a direct-response channel, not just an awareness play. D2C and e-commerce teams can test creator content that already works organically and scale it with paid distribution.
Meta also completed the global rollout of Creator Marketing Hub to all advertisers, with more than 10 million creators discoverable. It is integrating its Business Assistant so brands can search for creators conversationally.
The numbers behind the call
- 97%+: year-over-year growth in partnership ads run rate
- $15bn: annual run rate for partnership ads
- ~10M: advertisers who used a generative AI creative tool in Q3
- 10M+: people in the US and Canada who set up Muse personal agents
- 14%: global average price per ad increase year over year
Muse is becoming a commerce surface
Mark Zuckerberg said more than 10 million people in the US and Canada have set up Muse agents in roughly six weeks, and about 25% use it on any given day. Shopping is the most common use case: more than a quarter of Muse weekly actives shop with it, at an average purchase above $200.
Meta plans to keep the core product free and charge businesses a fee on transactions Muse helps complete. For marketers, that means Muse could become a new acquisition and retention surface before the merchant terms are even set.
What to do now
First, test partnership ads with creators whose organic content already works for your audience. Second, source creators through Creator Marketing Hub instead of follower counts alone. Third, watch CPMs: Meta’s global average price per ad rose 14%, so creative and landing experience have to work harder.
Source: PPC Land
