Key Takeaways
Meta paused updates to 4 sets of business terms on 5 November, with no new start date
Meta's updates won't take effect on 20 November, and its existing terms stay in force
The UK CMA's investigation covers Meta's existing commercial terms as well as revisions to them
Meta's current Self-Serve Ad Terms already allow crawling of advertiser domains, Search Engine Journal found
Courts in Norway and Brazil issued preliminary injunctions against Meta's terms before the pause
Meta business terms that would have let the company crawl websites tied to Meta Business accounts won't start on 20 November.
Meta paused the update on 5 November, took down the preview link and gave no new date.
Meta's Business Help Center notice says its existing terms remain in effect in the meantime.
The pause is the next chapter after the Oslo court order against Meta, which we covered on 31 October.
If you run ads or a Facebook Page, your contract doesn't change today. The older crawling language stays where it was.
Are Meta business terms still changing on 20 November?
No. Meta business terms updates are paused and will not take effect on 20 November 2026, according to Meta's Business Help Center notice. Meta's existing terms stay in effect, and Meta says it is still consulting stakeholders and will give a further update when it has more to share.
6 facts about the paused crawling clause
- Meta's pause covers its Commercial, Product Catalog, Self-Serve Ad and Ad Creative Generative AI Terms.
- Meta's paused clause reached any business using its products, including companies that buy no ads.
- Meta's clause allowed automated software and test credentials to crawl pages tied to a business.
- Meta removed the word "train" from the clause on 16 October.
- Meta's revised wording limited future use of scraped content to advertising and business products.
- Neither US English preview of Meta's terms mentioned robots.txt
Where each challenge stands after the pause
Meta's notice covers the terms alone. It says nothing about the cases and complaints already open against them.
| Forum | What happened | What it covers | Position after 5 November |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK Competition and Markets Authority | Investigation opened 30 October | Meta's existing commercial terms, or revisions to them | Case page shows no update; initial evidence gathering is pencilled in to January 2027 |
| Oslo District Court | Temporary block, reported 28 October | Terms held back until the court assesses legality | Not addressed in Meta's notice |
| Court in Brazil | Preliminary injunction after a media lawsuit | Blocks the terms from taking effect | Not addressed in Meta's notice |
| European Commission | Assessing a Movement for an Open Web complaint | Request for interim measures | Last reported as assessing on 26 October |
| US senators Schiff and Blackburn | Letters to Mark Zuckerberg in late October | Ask Meta to withdraw the terms | Not addressed in Meta's notice |
The CMA row carries the most weight for you. Its case page puts Meta's existing commercial terms in scope, so a paused update leaves that question open.
The CMA says no decision has been made and that no infringement should be assumed.
"We will be working to reach a swift and satisfactory resolution" - Sarah Cardell, Chief Executive, CMA
Your current Meta contract already allows some crawling
The paused update would have widened who is covered. Search Engine Journal's document review shows what's in force today.
| Document | Dated | Crawling language |
|---|---|---|
| Commercial Terms | 6 March 2024 | No crawling clause |
| Ad Creative Generative AI Terms | 6 May 2024 | URLs advertisers supply for AI ad tools |
| Self-Serve Ad Terms | 22 August 2025 | Advertiser domains once an ad order is placed, with uses including research and training |
So if you buy Meta ads, a crawling permission already applies to you.
If you only run a Facebook Page, the paused clause was the one that would have reached you.
How robots.txt applies while the terms are paused
Meta says you can block its crawlers with a disallow rule. Allow up to 24 hours for a change to apply.
Meta-ExternalAgent crawls to train foundation AI models or improve products. Meta-ExternalAds crawls for advertising and business products.
Meta-ExternalFetcher may bypass robots.txt, because it fetches individual links when a person asks for them.
The legal gap remains. Search Engine Journal found the previews didn't say whether a robots.txt setting limits what a business grants when it accepts.
Rules differ by company too, so look at Anthropic's 3 separate crawlers while you're editing the same file.
3 things to do before Meta's next update
Check robots.txt crawler by crawler. Decide on Meta-ExternalAgent and Meta-ExternalAds separately, because they do different jobs.
Read your ad terms. If you buy Meta ads, read the Self-Serve Ad Terms crawling language with whoever handles your contracts.
Watch 2 pages. Bookmark Meta's Business Help Center notice and the CMA case page, since Meta has promised a further update.
Disclaimer: This content is generated with the help of AI and involves human oversight. Please verify the sources and claims at your end.
