Meta postpones revised business terms to November after publisher backlash

Meta has moved the start date for its revised commercial and self-serve advertising terms from October 30 to November 20. The earlier draft would have allowed crawling of business-account domains and use of that content, including for AI training, prompting complaints from publishers and the News Media Alliance. Meta says it will clarify how its crawlers work and let site owners signal crawler preferences through robots.txt.

Expanded:

"Meta moved the effective date of its revised commercial and self-serve ad terms from October 30 to November 20. A spokesperson said the delay would allow more time to explain the changes to partners and stakeholders.

The earlier draft would have let Meta use automated tools to access, index, cache, analyze, collect, retrieve, or crawl business-account domains and related pages, and use that material to develop, improve, research, train, and maintain its products. Meta later removed the AI-training reference. The News Media Alliance, representing thousands of U.S. and Canadian news organizations, urged withdrawal, and complaints went to antitrust authorities. Meta says robots.txt can signal crawler preferences, though Reuters reported some AI crawlers ignore it."

Count P1: Meta1 moved2 the3 effective4 date5 of6 its7 revised8 commercial9 and10 self-serve11 ad12 terms13 from14 October15 30(16) to17 November18 20(19). A20 spokesperson21 said22 the23 delay24 would25 allow26 more27 time28 to29 explain30 the31 changes32 to33 partners34 and35 stakeholders36. P1 36. P2: The1 earlier2 draft3 would4 have5 let6 Meta7 use8 automated9 tools10 to11 access12, index13, cache14, analyze15, collect16, retrieve17, or18 crawl19 business-account20 domains21 and22 related23 pages24, and25 use26 that27 material28 to29 develop30, improve31, research32, train33, and34 maintain35 its36 products37. Meta38 later39 removed40 the41 AI-training42 reference43. The44 News45 Media46 Alliance47, re