Glossary/Whitelisting
What is whitelisting?
Short answer
Whitelisting is a creator's consent for a brand to promote their content as an ad from the brand's own ad account. The post stays on the creator's profile and under their name, but the budget, the audience and the run time are set by the brand. The creator grants limited advertising permissions, does not hand over the account or password, and can withdraw them.
What exactly is whitelisting?
The creator grants the brand limited advertising permissions to their profile, usually through the partnership settings in the platform's advertising tool. The brand builds a campaign that looks to the audience like an ordinary post from the creator, but reaches people the brand has chosen. The access is time-limited, covers named pieces of content and can be revoked without changing the account password.
How is whitelisting different from usage rights?
Usage rights say where a brand may use the file itself: it downloads the recording and publishes it on its own channels, under its own name. Whitelisting works differently, because the ad runs from the creator's profile and the viewer sees a familiar face and a familiar handle. One concerns the content, the other the channel it runs from. Agree both separately — consent to one is not consent to the other.
Why do brands and creators decide to do this?
Because an ad from the creator's account keeps the tone people follow them for, and does not look like a typical banner. The brand gains control over targeting and budget, so it delivers the content to people outside the creator's community too. In return the creator negotiates a separate fee, because advertising access is a service, not a free extra on top of a post.
Where to order it or find tasks
Related terms
Words that come up in the same conversations. Each has its own definition in the glossary.
- Usage rights
- The creator's consent to where and for how long the brand may use their material. Without it the recording may only be shown where it originally appeared. Read more
- UGC
- User generated content — material that looks like it was filmed by an ordinary user, not by an agency. The brand orders it from a creator and uses it on its own channels and in paid advertising. Read more
- Exclusivity
- The creator's commitment not to promote competitors for an agreed period. It raises the rate, because it limits what they can earn elsewhere. Read more
- Ad labelling
- The obligation to state clearly that the material was made on a brand's order. In Poland UOKiK requires it, and the label has to be visible straight away, not hidden among the hashtags. Read more
Frequently asked questions
Will the brand see my messages or the data from my account?
No. Advertising permissions only allow the brand to promote the named pieces of content. It does not get your password, does not read your messages and does not publish in your name, and you can withdraw the access in your profile settings.
Does an ad run from my account have to be labelled?
Yes. It is an advertising message no matter whose account it runs from, and the label should be visible in the content itself, not only in the campaign settings on the brand's side.
How much does consent to whitelisting cost?
It is settled separately from the rate for the post, most often as a surcharge that depends on how long the ad runs. The exact ranges differ between industries — we give them on the individual niche pages.
