In a bold move, Meta, which is Facebook’s parent company, announced that they will no longer allow business pages to create free listings for vehicles (and real estate/rentals) starting from January 30, 2023. This change doesn’t affect  individuals who will still be able to sell their vehicle or property on Facebook Marketplace, using their personal profile.

According to Meta’s release, all existing listings created by business pages will be deleted after January 30, 2023. Users of a Facebook business Page can download their listings prior to that date if they wish to keep them. Meta will also shut down the “Vehicles” and “Manage Inventory” tabs from Facebook business Pages in markets where those features are currently available.

Users of the platform have been complaining about the large number of spam listings created by fake accounts, or the infamous $1 car ads created for attention-grabbing purposes. Meta’s decision to take down business listings could aim at cleaning up Facebook Marketplace from fake or misleading ads, or at least vastly reduce their number, though at the same time, it’s also directing professional sellers to the company’s paid programmatic ad products.

Still, the announcement marks a 180-degree turn in the company’s strategy concerning auto sales. In 2017, Facebook Marketplace was updated to include dealership inventories, teaming up with Edmunds, Cars.com, Auction123, CDK Global, and Socialdealer in a quest to boost the total number of vehicle listings.

Following the change, business owners and employees will be able to post listings using their personal profiles if they want to. Meta said they will “continue to invest in innovative solutions” based on auto businesses’ needs, while assured its customers that nothing will change in “their ability to reach audiences via ads”.