Meta Expands Live Shopping Ads and Introduces Virtual Card Checkout
Meta is rolling out a suite of new commerce features across Facebook and Instagram, aimed at converting AI-driven product discovery into completed purchases. Key updates include the global expansion of Live Video Ads, which will now also be available on Instagram, enabling businesses to promote livestreams to broader audiences and facilitate direct sales. Additionally, Meta is partnering with Mastercard and Visa to introduce a virtual card payment option, designed to enhance transaction security and boost consumer confidence by providing temporary, one-time card numbers.
Meta is introducing new commerce functionalities across its Facebook and Instagram platforms, focusing on transforming AI-driven product discovery into direct sales.
The company is expanding Live Video Ads globally on Facebook and bringing them to Instagram. This allows businesses to promote their livestreams to larger audiences, facilitating sales directly within the live shopping experience. In the U.S., Meta collaborates with live commerce providers such as CommentSold, Firework, LiveMeUp, Sprii, and TalkShopLive. These partnerships enable sellers to convert eligible livestreams into advertisements that can reach potential customers beyond their existing followers. Facebook's Live Shopping Tools further enhance this by allowing viewers to browse products, view pricing, and discover items for purchase without leaving the livestream.
Beginning this summer, Meta will launch a virtual card payment option on Facebook and Instagram, developed in partnership with Mastercard and Visa. This feature generates temporary, one-time card numbers linked to a shopper's existing payment card, allowing users to finalize purchases without disclosing their actual card details to merchants. Meta states this initiative is intended to increase consumer confidence and improve transaction security.
For advertisers, Meta is making product data a core component of all Sales campaigns. Advertisers will now provide both product feeds and creative assets, with Meta's AI automatically assembling the most effective ad for each user. Product information, including price, availability, and descriptions, will be utilized across more campaign formats, aiming to create richer shopping experiences while maintaining performance.
Meta emphasizes that AI is fundamentally reshaping how individuals discover products, with recommendations increasingly appearing within content feeds, creator videos, and conversations rather than through traditional search. The company positions product catalogs as a crucial signal powering these experiences, helping products surface across various shopping surfaces, including creator content, business recommendations, and Meta AI-powered shopping features.
According to Search Engine Land, Meta's investment in these tools seeks to reduce friction between product discovery and purchase by combining AI-powered ad delivery, live shopping formats, and more secure checkout options to encourage in-app consumer purchases.
