The Reasons Your Facebook Ads Are Rejected or Disapproved

In the last technical article, we covered the types of advertisement that is prohibited and restricted by the Latest Policies of Google Ads and provided some tips on how to make Google Ads run more smoothly. Today, we’ll discuss another type of social media advertising that digital marketers operate on almost every day — Facebook Ads.

How to make Facebook Ads with appealing titles, creative content and interactive campaigns has left digital advertisers scratching their heads. If you received a notification that your advertisement does not conform to the advertising policy and must be revised, the advertiser will be dispirited. What are the things to watch out for when running your Facebook ads, and does your content violate any policy? It will be explained in detail below

Prohibited Content of Facebook Ads

1. Illegal Products or Services: Your ads must not constitute, facilitate, or promote illegal products, services or activities. In addition, if your target group are under age, the ads must not promote products, services, or content that are illegal, unsafe and inappropriate or that mislead, exploit, or exert undue pressure on the minor.
2. Discriminatory Practices: your ads must not discriminate or encourage discrimination against people, including national origin, age, ethnicity, colour, sex, sexual orientation, religion, disability etc.
3. Grammar & Profanity: the ads must not contain profanity or bad grammar and punctuation. Symbols, numbers and letters must be used properly without the intention of circumventing the ad review process and other enforcement systems of Facebook. For example, you are not allowed to use ‘Buy Now ’. You might adopt ‘Click here for more information!’ instead. 
4. Adult Content and Adult Products or Services: Ads must not include nudity, depictions of people in explicit, suggestive positions and images focused on individual body parts.
5. Tobacco and Related Products, Weapons, Ammunition, or Explosives, Unsafe Substances (i.e., Drug-related paraphernalia), Sensational Content (i.e., Ad depicting graphic details of torture or suffering, Ad depicting pimple popping or Ad depicting mutilation)
6. Controversial Content, Cheating and Deceitful Practices, Third-Party Infringement, Non-existent Functionality
7. Non-Functional Landing Page: Error pages or sites that are under construction, directing people to a closed or secret Facebook group, landing pages that don’t match the product or service promoted in the ad etc. 

More information: https://www.facebook.com/policies/ads/prohibited_content

Restricted Content of Facebook Content

1. Online Gambling and Gaming: Common types of gambling or gaming activities that may require permission include betting, lotteries, raffles, casino, fantasy sports, bingo, poker, skill game tournaments and sweepstakes.
2. Financial and Insurance Products and Services: Ads must directly request the input of a person’s financial information like credit card information.
3. Subscription Services: The landing page of ads must clearly describe and display the subscription’s terms and conditions, including details on cancelling the service.
4. Facebook requires online pharmacies who wish to run ads to be certified with LegitScript. Ads that promote over-the-counter medicines must comply with all applicable local laws. Ads may only promote prescription drugs in the following jurisdictions: the United States, New Zealand, and Canada. Ads promoting prescription drugs must not be targeted to people under 18 years of age.
5. Cosmetic Procedures and Wellness: Ads marketing cosmetic surgeries and procedures must be targeted to people at least 18 years or older. Ads marketing dietary, health, or herbal supplements must be targeted to people at least 18 years or older.
6. Alcohol: Ads that promote or reference alcohol must comply with all applicable local laws, required or established industry codes, guidelines, licenses and approvals, and include age and country targeting criteria consistent with Facebook’s targeting requirements and applicable local laws.

More information: https://www.facebook.com/policies/ads/restricted_content/alcohol

How to solve the issues if the ads are rejected

You may create a new ad or revise your ad to comply with our Advertising Policies. These ads will be treated as new ads and reviewed by our ads review system. Or, if you believe the ad was incorrectly rejected, you can request a review of the decision in Account Quality.

(source: https://www.facebook.com/policies/ads/restricted_content)

Before starting a new FB ad, it is recommended to do the following steps firstly:

1. Be careful with your wording for copywriting
2. Image ads use natural images as much as possible and don’t look like ads
3. Don’t exaggerate effectiveness and make promises you can’t guarantee
4. Ensure that the landing page runs properly, including loading speed, image quality, and content relevance
5. Seek professional help and have an experienced person assess the risk of your advertisements being rejected

In the process of advertising on Facebook, it is inevitable to encounter the situation that the advertisement cannot be approved. It is recommended to reserve time to wait for the review process before launching the advertisement. Want to learn more about how to improve the quality of your Facebook ads or how to deliver them more effectively? Welcome to contact Webzilla’s digital marketing experts for professional help and customised solutions.