Partnership ads were formerly called branded content ads. A creator grants permission in the Instagram app, or by approving a request the brand sends, and the brand then builds and runs the ad from its own ad account while the ad displays the creator's name and profile. The brand needs a business portfolio, an ad account, and a pixel connected before it can launch one.
Budgets and schedules live on the ad set rather than the individual ad, so a brand can run several creator-authorized ads inside one campaign and shift spend between them. Placements vary: Instagram feed ads built this way skip the headline field, while Reels and Facebook placements support it. Results are measured through Meta's ad attribution or, on a Shopify store, through last-click attribution.
On Socialync's job board, a campaign flagged as a partnership ads job states the licence length on the listing before a creator applies. The creator posts from their own account and grants the ad permission there, and Socialync adds the brand's mention to the caption automatically. The licence is the only clock: the brand can end it at any time, and ending it auto-pauses the ad.