Today’s digest looks at Meta’s decision to increase fees for advertisers in certain regions, a ruling from a California judge regarding AI agents in Amazon’s lawsuit against Perplexity, and a new Playbook launched by the IPA to help agencies with their pricing models. 

Meta hikes ad prices 

Meta will be introducing new fees for advertisers in several regions in order to offset Digital Service Taxes and other location-based fees. The company emailed advertisers informing them that these will apply to certain locations in which ads are delivered, regardless of where the advertiser is based. Meta explained that the fee is separate from advertisers’ campaign budget and will appear as a distinct line item on their invoice or transaction statement. 

The new pricing model will take effect at the start of the third quarter, on 1st July, for both image-based and video ads. The regions impacted are Austria, France, Italy, Spain, Turkey, and the UK. Advertisers displaying ads in these countries will have to pay from 2% to 5% more, with the UK at the lowest increase. The fees correspond to the digital tax rate in each country. 

AI agents cannot act on your behalf without permission from platform, rules California judge

In the Northern District of California, Judge Maxine Chesney has ruled that AI agents and agentic systems cannot access platforms’ electronic systems without their permission. The ruling means that even if a user authorises an AI agent to access, purchase or search autonomously on a particular website or platform, doing so without its permission becomes an illegal act under computer access laws.  

The ruling corresponds to a lawsuit brought by Amazon against Perplexity in November, in which Amazon alleged that the AI giant’s agents were buying products on behalf of customers despite having repeatedly asked them to stop. 

The ruling is currently preliminary, allowing Perplexity time to appeal. As a result, Comet, Perplexity’s personal AI assistant, is not yet blocked on Amazon. 

IPA unveils Pricing Playbook 

The IPA has announced the launch of a new Pricing Playbook aimed at helping agencies navigate the rapidly evolving market. It provides agencies with practical tools, real-world examples, and actionable advice to better align their pricing strategies with the way the industry is changing. 

Five key considerations for agencies are highlighted: appetite for risk, levels of flexibility, stability of scope, commercial fluency, as well as confidence and measurability of outcome.    

Jason Cobbold, co-author of the Playbook and chair of the IPA Commercial Leadership Group, recognised that the project reinforced how outdated many pricing conversations still are. “Agencies know the ground is shifting under them, but too often they fall back on familiar models because they feel safe,” he commented. 

Ed Palmer, the IPA’s director of agency value, said the Playbook equips agencies and advertisers with the means to “have a more open and intentional conversation about evolving commercial models.”