Meta has stopped running ads from TikTok's parent company.
Meta banned ads from ByteDance across its platforms in the US and several other countries, with the policy taking effect this past Thursday. The ban blocks both direct ads and paid marketing from ByteDance, plus third-party ads that link to TikTok. A Meta spokesperson confirmed the move, telling reporters the company does not have to run promotions for a competitor "whose goal is to pull people off our apps." The spokesperson added that declining ad business from a rival is a normal practice across industries.
This goes beyond the usual algorithm skirmishes between the two apps. Meta is using its control over a massive ad marketplace to deny a rival access to it, at a moment when TikTok's US ownership structure is still being sorted out. That's a different kind of leverage than chasing the same users with competing features.
Framing an ad ban as standard business practice is technically true and still conveniently timed for the company that controls the auction TikTok would need to buy into.