Facebook is testing First Impression Ads in the United States, a placement that makes a brand's ad the first one a person sees when they open their Feed. The test is early and limited to one brand per day.
Meta announced the test at its Brand Building Summit on 16 October, the same day it made Ads Super Burst generally available. It says advertisers have asked for the first ad position in Feed for years, and that it shared the update because it had heard there was appetite for a product like this.
What Meta Has Shared So Far
According to Meta, the first ad in Feed carries "a kind of prominence no other placement offers." That is most of the pitch for now.
The announcement gives no price, no buying route, no date for wider availability and no results from the test. It also does not say how the brand for each day is chosen.
With one brand per day, the slot works more like a daily sponsorship than an ad unit an advertiser can scale up or down. Supply is fixed at one advertiser a day for the length of the test.
A Format Rivals Already Sell
The name is not new. In June 2025, LinkedIn introduced First Impression Ads, a full-screen vertical video format that gives an advertiser exclusive access to the first ad impression a user sees each day, built for single-day campaigns such as product launches and events.
LinkedIn paired it with Reserved Ads, which lock in the first Sponsored Content slot in the feed for a longer stretch. That gives a LinkedIn advertiser two versions of the same idea: one day at the top, or a longer reservation of the first feed position.
Snapchat and TikTok have moved the same way this year. Snapchat's Total Snap Takeovers, launched in March, guarantee a brand the first ad position in every tab a user visits in a session. TikTok's TopReach, launched at NewFronts the same month, bundles the first ad shown on app open with the first in-feed ad into a single daily buy.
Facebook is the last of the four to put its opening slot up for sale, and it is doing so as a test rather than a product.
What It Means for Advertisers
For now, there is nothing to buy. The test runs with one brand a day, and Meta has not said what that brand pays.
The questions a media buyer would ask first are still open. The announcement does not say which ad formats the slot accepts, whether it can be booked for a specific date, or whether it will reach Instagram as well as Facebook.
The direction is clearer than the product. Ads Super Burst, announced the same day, sells a reserved block of hours. First Impression Ads would sell a reserved position. Both give brand advertisers fixed, high-visibility inventory they can plan around a single day.
Meta
LinkedIn
Snapchat
TikTokBrands that already buy first-slot formats on LinkedIn, Snapchat or TikTok now have a likely Facebook equivalent to plan for, once Meta publishes how it will be sold.
Recap
What are Facebook First Impression Ads?
First Impression Ads are a Meta test that places a brand's ad as the first one a person sees when they open their Facebook Feed. The test is running in the United States.
How does the First Impression Ads test work?
Meta describes it as an early test with one brand per day holding the first ad position in Feed. It has not published pricing, a buying route or how each day's brand is chosen.
What does First Impression Ads change for advertisers?
It brings Facebook into the first-slot format that LinkedIn, Snapchat and TikTok already sell, where one brand owns the opening moment of a session or day. For now it is a test, with no date for wider availability.