Meta is about to change significantly in the way advertising works and this is for the European Union. After intense regulatory pressure, Meta has decided to let users decide what data they share with ads. This was placed under the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA).
They have also imposed a fine of €200 million for gathering user data from ads and agreed to give users a choice over what and how much personal data they share with advertisers.
This update will come live from January 2026 and this is only for EU users. EU users can choose between fully personalized ads or a limited data personalised ad experience. This is going to shift the way digital advertising strategy works across the region.
Don’t panic, here is a clear explanation of what the changes are and what they mean for the advertising agencies.
Meta is offering EU users clear advertising data choices
Meta has officially announced with the EU commission for a dual option consent model for Meta ads, i.e. for Facebook and Instagram.
With the new system, the EU Facebook and Instagram users can choose between
- Full personalization
- Limited data sharing
The European Union has also mentioned this as an effective choice, making sure that users can have control over their data. As said earlier, these changes will come to live from the start of January 2026.
A change worth a €200 Million DMA Fine
The decision was made after the EU passed a fine of €200 Million last April 2025 for a breach in data. Earlier, Meta made users pay for privacy, but with this, users can choose their privacy.
What does this mean for advertising agencies?
This change will make differences in how Meta ads will work in the EU.
What advertising agencies do now to be prepared:
- Perform audit data-heavy targeting strategies on Meta.
- Use the first party data through email, CRM and using the website to build a stronger profile.
- Use multiple marketing channels, so that you don’t completely depend on one platform.
- More creativity attracts more audience, so make your ads more creative and in a storytelling way so that it creates value among the audience.
- Make sure to set the KPI and target in a way that it gains more reach, engagement and provides a brand lift.
You might think this change is for the EU alone, but this could go global, so it is better to stay alert.
Coming to an end, with this update, we can clearly see that there is a broader shift towards privacy-first advertising. With this, now advertisers can make sure to create Meta ads more creatively for long-term brand building.
In the upcoming days, it is expected that there will be less importance to data precision and more to gaining trust and attention in the right way.
