We've all been on the receiving end of this dreadful message:
Error: "Your Ad Wasn't Approved Because It Doesn't Follow Facebook's Advertising Policies
If you've received this message, we have a few steps you can follow to get your ads running again! 🙆♂️
Ads are disapproved by Facebook & Instagram for one of two common reasons.
The first reason is that Facebook made a mistake and incorrectly disapproved your ad. 🤦♂️
Facebook is overly precautious on flagging campaigns that may violate their advertising policies. They use a combination of algorithms and humans to determine if an ad is approved.
It is possible that your ads have been mistakenly disapproved. If you believe that is the case, you can appeal that ad disapproval process.
The second reason is that the ad doesn't follow Facebook's Advertising Policies.
Facebook's Advertising Policies apply to an ad's content, audience, and the destination it links to. Please review the ad policies, your ads, and your website to ensure that they do not violate any terms.
Common Violations of Facebook's Advertising Policies
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 guidelines and applicable local laws. If your ad promotes alcohol consumption -- make sure that the minimum age on your ad targeting (on the Audience step) is 21!
Profanity - 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 or other enforcement systems.
Housing - Ads that promote or directly link to a housing opportunity or related service must comply with specific rules, including but not limited to listings for the sale or rental of a home or apartment, homeowners insurance, mortgage insurance, mortgage loans, housing repairs and home equity or appraisal services. This does not include ads designed to educate consumers or housing providers about their rights and responsibilities under fair housing laws. You can include the Equal Opportunity Housing logo and slogan to help differentiate your ads as non-discriminatory. Go to Ads Manager and open and open your campaign that you just launched. Select Special Ad Categories. Under Categories, choose which category applies to your campaign. Under Countries, choose the country or countries where you want to run your campaign. Then, you should be good to relaunch the ad!
Smoking - Facebook does not allow ads that promote the use or sale of cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco and smoking accessories (e.g., tobacco pipes, hookahs, hookah lounges, rolling papers, vaporized tobacco delivery devices, shisha, electronic cigarettes). The advertisement of such products is highly regulated around the world. If your ad promotes smoking -- make sure that the minimum age on your ad targeting (on the Audience step) is 21!
Sexuality - Facebook does not allow ads that promote adult products or services, such as sex toys, sexual enhancement products, or sexual videos and publications, as well as images or videos that show nudity.
Body Image - Your ad wasn't approved because it focuses on an ideal physical body image. Images that show a type of body as being perfect or undesirable (e.g., focusing on abs or belly fat) are not accepted.
The easiest way to get around Facebook's restrictions is to recognize the issue, edit the ad, and update your campaign in Boost with new images/text/age targeting to resubmit to Facebook!
Step 1: Visit the Account Quality Portal
Step 2: Select the Facebook Account or Business Manager Account you are experiencing Advertising Issues with
Facebook will display a yellow slash next to a Facebook Account or Business Manager Account if it has experienced any issues in the last 30 days.
Here is an example of a Business Manager Account with issues.
Step 3: Select the Advertising Account you are experiencing Advertising Issues with
Facebook will display a yellow slash next to a Facebook Ad Account if it has experienced any issues in the last 30 days.
Here is an example of an Ad Account with issues.
Step 4: Request Review for the Rejected Ads
You can see which ads within a campaign aren't running and request reviews of multiple ads at once if you believe they were incorrectly rejected.
Then click on the Request Review button.
Facebook’s ad review can take anywhere from 5 minutes to 2 days. Once the ad is approved, no further action is required. Your campaign will begin delivering immediately upon your scheduled start date.
If you have any trouble with this process, contact boost@eventbrite.com.