Whitelisting, partnership ads and Spark Ads: a creator's guide

What is UGC whitelisting?

UGC whitelisting is when a creator lets a brand run paid ads through the creator's own social account, so the ad shows the creator's name and profile picture instead of the brand's. It's also called allowlisting or creator licensing. The ad usually carries a label such as "Paid partnership" naming the brand.

Brands ask for it because an ad from a real person's account reads more like a recommendation than an advertisement, and because it lets them put your face and name at the top of the ad. For you, the difference from regular paid usage is identity: with paid usage the ad runs from the brand's account; with whitelisting it runs as you.

How it works on Meta: partnership ads

Partnership ads are Meta's format for ads that run with both the creator's and the brand's names in the header. They replaced what Meta used to call branded content ads. You and the brand connect as partners through Instagram's or Facebook's branded content and partnership ad settings. Depending on the setup, you approve the brand as a partner, give permission for a specific post, or share a partnership ad code that the brand enters in Ads Manager. The brand then runs and pays for the ad.

Before partnership ads existed, whitelisting on Meta often meant giving the brand's ad account access to your Facebook page or Instagram account through Meta's business tools. Some brands and agencies still work that way. Either way, it should be a permission you can see and remove, never your login.

Meta changes these menus regularly, so follow its current Help Center instructions for the exact steps.

How it works on TikTok: Spark Ads

Spark Ads are TikTok's format for running an ad from an existing organic post. The ad shows your account name, and views, likes and follows from the ad count toward your post and profile. To let a brand use a post, you turn on ad authorization in your TikTok settings, generate a code for that video, choose how long the authorization lasts, and send the code to the brand, which enters it in TikTok Ads Manager.

Because you pick the length of the authorization, match it to your contract. If the deal covers 30 days of Spark Ads, don't authorize the post for longer than that.

Whitelisting vs paid usage

	Paid usage	Whitelisting
The ad runs from	The brand's account	Your account
Name on the ad	The brand's	Yours, usually with a paid partnership label
Comments	On the brand's ad	On an ad under your name (on TikTok, on your post)
What you grant	A license to use the video	A license to the video plus the use of your identity
How it's priced	A usage fee	A usage fee plus a whitelisting fee

A deal can allow one without the other. "Paid usage" on its own doesn't give the brand permission to run ads from your account.

How to price whitelisting

There's no standard rate, and your price depends on your audience, your niche and how much the brand wants your name specifically. What's common:

• Charge it separately from the content fee and the usage fee, so each can be negotiated and renewed on its own.
• Price it by period, such as 30, 60 or 90 days, with the price of each extra period agreed up front.
• Adjust for scope: how many posts or ad variations, which platforms, which countries, whether it comes with exclusivity, and whether the brand writes the ad text that appears under your name.
• Don't bundle it in for free. If a brand asks for whitelisting "as part of the usage", it's asking for more than usage.

Agreeing the renewal price in advance matters most. If the brand wants to keep a well-performing ad running, a pre-agreed price turns that into a quick yes.

How to limit whitelisting in your contract

1. Dates: a start date and an end date for ads from your account, and the same length on any Spark Ads authorization.
2. Posts: which videos or posts the brand may use.
3. Platforms and countries: Meta only, TikTok only, or both, and where the ads may run.
4. Copy approval: you approve the ad text, headline and call to action that appear under your name.
5. Comments: who moderates comments on ads under your name, and how fast.
6. The end: no ads from your account after the end date, and access removed or authorizations expired by then.
7. Reporting: if you agree a spend or impressions cap, ask for a report from the brand's ads manager. The public ad libraries don't publish spend for commercial ads.
8. Exclusivity, if any, defined and paid for separately.

Keep track after you say yes

Keep a list of every permission you give: brand, post, platform, date granted and end date. Every so often, review the partnership permissions in your Instagram and Facebook settings and the authorized posts in your TikTok ad settings, and remove anything past its end date.

Then check what's actually running. Ads from your account appear in the Meta Ad Library under your name and, for ads shown in Europe, in TikTok's ad library. Our guide on how to check if a brand is still using your UGC in ads walks through it. Klebz watches your own page as well as the brands' pages, and flags ads run from your account without whitelisting permission or after it ended.

Red flags

• A brand or agency asks for your password or login codes. Use the platform's permissions instead.
• Access "for the campaign" or with no end date.
• No say over the words that appear under your name.
• Whitelisting slipped into a usage fee at no extra cost.