05 Mar Ads That Facebook Will NOT Approve

Facebook advertising has become one of the most prominent forms of online marketing in recent years. While a Facebook ad campaign can be a great way to promote your business and to start bringing new clients in the door, making a Facebook Ad isn’t always as simple as it seems.

Running a Facebook ad campaign likely means that at some point you are going to have an ad that does not get approved. It can come as a surprise to some, and the reasoning from Facebook may seem rather vague—which can be frustrating. What is perhaps most difficult for users to stomach about these rejections is that it can really set you back in terms of getting your campaign off the ground. Facebook adds can take over 24 hours to get your ad approved in the first place—get rejected, and that can add another day to your approval time.

If Facebook rejects an ad, there is nothing that you can really do to overturn their decision. There are, however, things that you can do to prevent your Facebook ads from getting rejected in the first place. The more you know about the top reasons Facebook ads get rejected, the better off you will be.

Here are just a few of the different types of ads that the social media site will not approve.

1. Part of the ad wasn’t relevant to the product you are promoting. If you try to sneak in other information on your ad, Facebook may promote it.
2. The ad doesn’t lead to the right landing page. If your add leads to a non-functioning landing page or if it takes visitors to a page they can’t leave, it doesn’t fall within Facebook’s parameters.
3. Your message is deceitful, seems deceitful or looks like SPAM. Facebook wants to protect its users and their experiences above all things. So, if Facebook even assumes you are attempting to dupe their users, they will flag your post.
4. It contains too much text. Facebook doesn’t want your ad to have too much text. This includes images that you have edited to include more text than Facebook’s current word limitations. Don’t assume you’ve found a loophole by adding text to an image. Facebook will notice.
5. You mention Facebook the wrong way. While you can technically mention Facebook in your ads, the site is very strict about how you mention it. You need to make sure you are spelling Facebook with a capital “F” and that you don’t try to make it a different font size or style. You are not allowed to use the Facebook logo, and you cannot make Facebook plural or use it as a verb.
6. It includes before and after shots. This is one of the most common rejections that surprise users. You cannot use before and after shots in your ads. Facebook is super strict on this. Don’t try to show off “ideal” body parts either. A close up of a man’s abs while promoting your gym, or weight loss pill likely won’t make the cut.
7. It can’t be violent or scary. Again, Facebook’s primary concern is its users. If Facebook thinks an image of a car wreck or someone trying to rob another person could frighten or disturb a user, they are not going to allow you to post it.

These are just a few of the many reasons why an ad may be rejected. The best approach to keeping your content approval-ready is to make sure you are up-to-date on Facebook’s policies. You need to check Facebook’s advertising policies weekly. They are always changing. You may not have thought something was prohibited a few weeks ago, only to find it is now on the list.