What is whitelisting in UGC? Spark Ads explained

Whitelisting: Whitelisting (or allowlisting) is when a creator gives a brand permission to run paid ads through the creator's own account, so the ad shows the creator's name and handle.

Whitelisting, also called allowlisting, is when you give a brand permission to run paid ads through your social account. The ad shows your name and handle, not the brand’s. People see it as a post from you, marked as sponsored.

How it works

Each platform has its own tool:

• TikTok Spark Ads. You generate an authorization code for a specific video in your TikTok settings and send it to the brand. They use it to run that post as an ad. The ad keeps your handle and the likes and comments the post already earned. Codes have an expiry you choose (Leadsie).
• Meta partnership ads. On Instagram and Facebook, a brand can run ads with your handle, usually showing both accounts as a paid partnership. Meta has folded much of the older whitelisting setup into partnership ads (Superfiliate).

You can usually revoke access or let it expire.

Example

You post a video for a language app on your own TikTok. It does well. The brand asks for a Spark Ads code so they can put ad spend behind it for a month. You send the code, they run it, and your post reaches far more people as an ad under your name.

Whitelisting vs Canvas UGC

Whitelisting runs ads through your account. Canvas UGC puts organic posts on the brand’s account. If you only post on brand-owned accounts, whitelisting may not come up at all.

Why it matters for UGC creators

• It is paid usage of your identity. Your name is attached to the ad. Charge for it separately from the video itself. See usage rights.
• Set a time limit. Agree how long the brand can run ads, then use the platform’s expiry or revoke access when it ends.
• Ads can run where you can’t see them. Whitelisted ads are often dark posts that never appear on your profile.
• Comments land on your account. Ad audiences may reply under your name. Agree who moderates them.

Put the platforms, duration and fee for whitelisting in writing, alongside your per-video rate.

Related terms

• Dark posting: Dark posting is running a post as a paid ad that is shown only to a targeted audience and never appears on the account's public profile or feed.
• Usage rights: Usage rights are the permissions a creator grants a brand to use their videos, defining where the content can appear, whether it can run as paid ads, and for how long.
• Per-video rate: A per-video rate is a flat fee a brand pays a creator for each delivered and accepted UGC video, regardless of how many views it later gets.