--- title: "Meta wants to crawl your website. The date just moved to 20 November." description: "Meta's new business terms let it crawl sites linked to your business, even if you never run ads. What changed, the new date, and what to check." url: https://dumbcmo.com/blog/meta-crawling-terms-delayed category: "Paying to be seen" tags: ["news", "meta", "robots.txt", "website"] published: 2026-10-26 updated: 2026-10-26 reading_time: 3 min author: "The DumbCMO" --- # Meta wants to crawl your website. The date just moved to 20 November. > **TL;DR:** Meta's new business terms let it crawl websites tied to your business, even if you don't buy ads. It dropped the word 'train' from the clause, and moved the start date from 30 October to 20 November. Review the terms and your robots.txt. [Notebook](https://dumbcmo.com) › [Blog](https://dumbcmo.com/blog) › Paying to be seen › Meta wants to crawl your website. The date just moved to 20 November. You put up a Facebook Page for your shop. Years later, someone at Meta’s office quietly adds, “and we can read your website too.” ## In normal-people words Meta updated its Commercial Terms and Self-Serve Ad Terms. Search Engine Journal reported these points: - The terms say Meta can use automated software to crawl pages tied to a business’s products or services, and pull updates from them periodically. - The Commercial Terms cover **any business use of Meta products, including managing a Facebook Page**, not only buying ads. - On 19 October, Meta removed the word “train” from the crawling clause. It now ties crawling to advertising, business products and security. Experts note that “business products” isn’t defined, and “develop” could still cover training. - The start date moved from **30 October to 20 November 2026**. As of 25 October, some previews still showed 30 October. - You accept updated terms by continuing to use Meta’s business products after notice. > **The DumbCMO:** Removing one word from the clause isn’t the same as removing the clause. Read it twice. ## What Meta says, and what critics say Meta says the terms only apply to its ads and business products and don’t change how it uses web crawlers. It says it respects robots.txt preferences. Critics point out the terms don’t mention robots.txt, and it isn’t clear whether your robots.txt limits what you’ve agreed to. Groups representing publishers have asked regulators in the EU and UK to step in. No regulator has ordered changes. Meta announced the delay itself. **Do you need to worry?** - **If** You have a Facebook Page or run Meta ads for your business **→ then** The terms apply to you. Read the crawling paragraph. - **If** Your website has original writing, photos or paid content **→ then** Decide whether you’re comfortable with Meta reading it, and check robots.txt. - **If** You’re a small shop with a simple catalogue site **→ then** Low risk, but it’s still worth knowing the clause exists. ## The chai stall version The landlord adds a line to your lease: “we may periodically inspect your stall’s recipe notebook.” He says it’s only for the building’s safety. **Maybe. Read the line before you sign again.** ## Do this today - [ ] Read the crawling paragraph in Meta’s Commercial Terms and Self-Serve Ad Terms. - [ ] Open yourwebsite.com/robots.txt. If you don’t have one, ask whoever built your site to add one. - [ ] Check Meta’s developer documentation for its list of crawlers. It documents separate ones for AI training and for Meta AI search. - [ ] Note 20 November and look for updates before then. - [ ] Don’t block anything you rely on, like the preview Facebook shows when you share a link, until you’ve tested it. ## Not-so-frequently asked questions ### Can I stop Meta crawling my site? You can state preferences in robots.txt, and Meta says it respects them. Whether that limits what the terms grant isn’t clear. Following robots.txt is voluntary, not a legal right. ### Do I have to accept the terms? You accept them by continuing to use Meta’s business products after notice. ### Is this related to the AI ad edits change? Meta is changing its business terms around the same time. See [Meta’s AI can now edit your ads](/blog/meta-ai-ad-edits-your-responsibility). Both sit in the same Commercial Terms, so both start on 20 November. ### Is this legal advice? No. If your site holds valuable content, ask a lawyer about the terms. ## Things your agency won’t say - “It’s standard terms” is how most clauses get accepted. - robots.txt is a request, not a lock. - Knowing what you agreed to takes ten minutes and costs nothing. ## Jargon Jail **Locked up: “Crawl”** When software visits web pages automatically and copies what it finds. **Google does it to list you in search. Meta wants to do it for its own products.** ## Where to go next - Related: [Meta’s AI can now edit your ads](/blog/meta-ai-ad-edits-your-responsibility) - Choosing a platform: [Instagram ads or Google ads?](/blog/instagram-ads-or-google-ads) - Everything on Meta ads: [PPC, dumbed down](/ppc) ## Sources 1. Search Engine Journal, [“Meta Delays The Terms That Let It Crawl Business Sites”](https://www.searchenginejournal.com/meta-delays-business-terms-crawling/594388/). 2. Search Engine Journal, [“Meta Drops Training From Its Crawl Clause And Keeps The Crawl”](https://www.searchenginejournal.com/meta-removes-training-crawl-clause-commercial-terms/593584/), 19 October 2026. 3. Search Engine Journal, [“Meta’s New Terms Expand Crawling Rights Beyond Advertisers”](https://www.searchenginejournal.com/metas-new-terms-expand-crawling-rights-beyond-advertisers/593217/), 16 October 2026. ## Related notes - [Meta’s brand formats: Super Burst, First Impression, Reels Trending](https://dumbcmo.com/blog/meta-ads-october-2026-updates): Meta’s Brand Summit (15 Oct) pushed Ads Super Burst, First Impression Ads (US test), and broader Reels Trending Ads. Today (28 Oct) product browsing turns on in existing ads unless you opted out. Here’s the plain-words tour with a doodle for each format. - [ChatGPT ads: how they pick who shows, in plain English](https://dumbcmo.com/blog/chatgpt-ads-how-they-work): ChatGPT ads are chosen by matching your ad to the conversation, then auctioned. 100,000+ advertisers are already in. For most small businesses, watch for now, and don’t move your budget yet. - [Google Ads: new spending controls and a 1-click AI Max test](https://dumbcmo.com/blog/google-ads-channel-priority-and-ai-max): Google Ads is rolling out controls to say which channels get your budget first, plus a one-click test of AI Max. Both are useful, but all channels default to high priority, so nothing changes unless you change it. --- From [DumbCMO](https://dumbcmo.com): The marketing notes you were too embarrassed to take.