June 12, 2018
If you have ever used Facebook Ads for advertising, chances are you have had an ad disapproved at some point. It can be quite annoying when an ad is disapproved not only because it takes time to try and fix the ad but sometimes Facebook isn’t exactly clear as to why your ad was disapproved. So let us take a look at some common reasons why your ad might be flagged and what you can do about it.
Facebook Ad Review Process
Before your ad can run on Facebook it needs to pass a review process. This process includes checking the ad’s:
- Image
- Text
- Targeting
- Positioning
- Landing Page Content
Keep in mind that even if everything about the actual ad is fine if your landing page is broken, does not match the service/product in your ad, or does not comply with Facebook’s advertising policies the ad can still be disapproved.
Common Disapproval Reasons
- Too much text in the image
Facebook generally prefers visual content that contains little to no text. That means in your images and videos its best to save the ad copy for the “text” and “headline” section of your ad and not on the image or video itself. The rule to follow is that your ad should not have an image that contains text covering more than 20% of the image. Facebook does this because they think images with no text are more engaging to its users and therefore are higher quality content. You can use the Facebook Text Overlay Tool to check your image(s) for text percentage. You can also check Facebook’s guide for text in images for more information and exceptions to their text rule for things like advertising images containing books, games, or event posters.
- General Restricted Content
There are several categories of things that are restricted on Facebook. To advertise for these you need to watch the age of your targeting, need special permission to advertise for, and be aware of local laws in the areas you are targeting. These categories include alcohol, dating, gambling, state lotteries, online pharmacies, subscription services, financial services, branded content, student loan services, and political advertising. For more info check out Facebook’s Advertising Policies.
- Age Restricted Content
Ads will be disapproved if the content or landing page is promoting material to an audience that Facebooks deems to be too young. This includes things like alcohol, gambling, supplements, and student loan services. Make sure your age targeting is appropriate if you are running ads like these.
- Mentioning Facebook
Facebook does allow you to mention “Facebook” in your ads but has certain rules around it. Some do’s include using a capital “F” when you write Facebook and using the same font size/style as the surrounding text. Some common misuses are using the logo in place of the word, making Facebook plural or using abbreviations, or altering the logo in any way. Check out Facebook’s Brand Guidelines for more information.
- Implying Personal Attributes
A very big no-no on Facebook is having an ad that contains content that implies personal attributes directly or indirectly. There are many attributes you have to be wary of and they include a person’s name, race, ethnic origin, religion, beliefs, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, medical condition, financial status, criminal record, or membership to a trade union. Study Facebook’s Personal Attributes page to see examples of what is and is not allowed.
Dealing With A Disapproved Ad
So there you are, trying to get on with your busy day when you notice your ads have been disapproved. What can you do?
- When Facebook disapproves an ad, they generally give a reason as to why. If the reason is easy to fix, make the change and republish the ad.
- If you know that your ad is adhering to policies, then simply recreating the ad again can help. Sometimes Facebook’s algorithms will wrongly flag ads and this tends to be the quickest solution.
- If your ads continue to be disapproved and you know you are within policy, then submit the ad for appeal and give a reason(s) why you think the ad is fine. Unfortunately, this takes some time to be reviewed. Facebook’s Appeal Form
- If all else fails, review the reasons stated above and thoroughly read through Facebook’s Advertising Policies to ensure you are abiding by policy. There are many more reasons why your ad might be disapproved than just the common ones listed above.