Revision History
Facebook.com - Advertising Policies
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Version Comments
Clarifications added to the sections "20. Payday loans, payslip advances and bail bonds" and "10.a Ads related to politics or issues of national importance".
Changes in the "Restricted Content" section on "Disclaimers for ads related to politics or issues of national importance".
Changes to "Payday loans, cash advances and bail bonds", "Financial and Insurance Products and Services", and "Branded Content".
Changes under the sections "Drugs & Drug-Related Products", "Promotion of Over-The-Counter Drugs", and "Drug and Alcohol Addiction Treatment"; New sections: "Sale of Body Parts" and "Weight Loss Products and Plans".
The "Political Affiliation" section has been updated.
Changes under "Personal Health".
Changes in "Drugs & Drug-Related Products" and "Low Quality or Disruptive Content".
Changes to the section "13. Things you should know".
A new section has been added entitled "'Paid For By' Disclaimers".
Changes under "Payday loans, cash advances and bail bonds"; New section entitled "Drug and alcohol addiction treatment centres".
Changes to the section "Prohibited Financial Products and Services"; A new section has been added entitled "Cryptocurrency Products and Services".
Changes under "Weapons, Ammunition, or Explosives".
New terms added on Political Advertising.
Changes in the section "11. Use of our brand assets".
A new section has been added entitled "Prohibited Financial Products and Services".
Changes to the "Grammar & Profanity" section.
The section "Text in Ad Images" has been modified.
A new paragraph has been added under section "13. Things You Should Know" concerning ads being public information and that they can be re-shared.
Clarification under "Misleading or False Content".
New terms added concerning Circumventing Systems.
The "Branded Content" section has been updated.
New terms added concerning unauthorized streaming devices.
A completely new version has been published. Please review.
The section on "Text in Images" has been removed.
A new Prohibited Content item has been added concerning "Content leading to external landing pages".
There has been a phrasing change under "Branded Content".
A new section on "Branded content" has been added.
Under Alcohol, a new link concerning the age requirement in India has been posted.
The "Last updated" date has now been changed to reflect the latest edit.
A new section entitled "Video Ads" has been added.
Added examples to "Lead Ads" section.
A new section on Lead Ads has been added.
A new version has been published.
A completely new version has been published and the document has been renamed to "Facebook Advertising Policies".
New term added under Ad Content: "Video ads for health products and services may not be allowed to play automatically."
Terms updated concerning ads targeted to minors.
Ads may not assert or imply, directly or indirectly, within the ad content or by targeting, a user's name (new attribution).
New term added indicating that online dating services "are only allowed with prior authorization from Facebook".
New terms added concerning using advertising data to build or augment user profiles.
Clarification added under "Ad Creative and Positioning"
New terms added concerning custom audiences. See: https://www.facebook.com/ads/manage/customaudiences/tos.php
Terms removed concerning images under "III. Ad Creative and Positioning"
New condition added concerning Images under "III. Ad Creative and Positioning"
Images guidelines changed under section "III. Ad Creative and Positioning"
New "D. Images" section added under "III. Ad Creative and Positioning Images"
Russia was added to the list of countries that are prevented from having ads that promote or reference alcohol.
Changes under section "II. Data and Privacy"
This version contains a MAJOR overhaul.
This is the initial version that ParanoidPaul captured. It is not necessarily the first version of the document.
Indicates that the document has been updated silently, without a change to the posted "last modified" date!
Date of last revision: April 15, 2015

FACEBOOK ADVERTISING POLICIES

Sections:

	 Things you should know
	 Prohibited content
	 Restricted content
	 Targeting
	 Positioning
	 Text in images
	 Use of the Facebook brand
	 Data use restrictions

1. THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

	 The Advertising Policies, as well as our Data Policy and Statement of Rights and Responsibilities, apply to(1) all ads and commercial content served by Facebook on or off the Facebook services, including ads purchased under AAAA/IAB Standard Terms and Conditions, and (2) ads appearing within Apps on Facebook. You may be subject to additional terms or guidelines if you use certain Facebook advertising- related products or services.
	 Advertisers are responsible for understanding and complying with all applicable laws and regulations. Failure to comply with these policies may result in a variety of consequences, including the cancellation of ads you have placed and the termination of your account.
	 We do not use sensitive personal data for ad targeting. Topics you choose for targeting your ad don't reflect the personal beliefs, characteristics or values of users.
	 If you are managing ads on behalf of other advertisers, each advertiser or client must be managed through separate ad accounts. You must not change the advertiser or client associated with an established ad account; set up a new account.
	 We reserve the right to reject, approve or remove any ad for any reason, in our sole discretion, including ads that negatively affect our relationship with our users or that promote content, services, or activities, contrary to our competitive position, interests, or advertising philosophy.
	 These policies are subject to change at any time without notice.

2. PROHIBITED CONTENT

	 Ads must not constitute, facilitate, or promote illegal products, services or activities. Ads targeted to minors must not promote products, services, or content that is inappropriate, illegal, or unsafe, or that exploits, misleads, or exerts undue pressure on the age groups targeted.
	 Ads must not promote the sale or use of the following:

	 Illegal, prescription, or recreational drugs;
	 Tobacco products and related paraphernalia;
	 Unsafe supplements, as determined by Facebook in its sole discretion;
	 Weapons, ammunition, or explosives; or
	 Adult products or services (except for ads for family planning and contraception)

	 Ads must not violate our Community Standards. Additionally, ads must not contain any of the following:

	 Content that infringes upon or violates the rights of any third party, including copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity, or other personal or proprietary rights.
	 Adult content. This includes nudity, depictions of people in explicit or suggestive positions, or activities that are overly suggestive or sexually provocative.
	 Shocking, sensational, disrespectful, or excessively violent content.
	 Content that asserts or implies personal attributes. This includes direct or indirect assertions or implications about a person’s race, ethnic origin, religion, beliefs, age, sexual orientation or practices, gender identity, disability, medical condition (including physical or mental health), financial status, membership in a trade union, criminal record, or name.
	 Deceptive, false, or misleading content, including deceptive claims, offers, or business practices.
	 Content that exploits controversial political or social issues for commercial purposes.
	 Audio or flash animation that plays automatically without a user's interaction or expands within Facebook after someone clicks on the ad.
	 Non-functional landing pages. This includes landing pages that interfere with a person’s ability to navigate away from the page.
	 Spyware, malware, or any software that results in an unexpected or deceptive experience. This includes links to sites containing these products.
	 Bad grammar or punctuation. Symbols, numbers, and letters must be used properly.
	 Images that portray nonexistent functionality.
	 Images that contain “before and after” images or images of unexpected or unlikely results.

3. RESTRICTED CONTENT

	 ALCOHOL: Ads that promote or reference alcohol must: (i) Comply with all applicable local laws, required or established industry codes, guidelines, licenses and approvals and (ii) apply age and country targeting criteria consistent with Facebook's targeting guidelines and applicable local laws. Note that Ads that promote or reference alcohol are prohibited in the some countries, including but not limited to: Afghanistan, Brunei, Bangladesh, Egypt, Gambia, Kuwait, Libya, Norway, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, or Yemen.
	 DATING: Ads for online dating services are only allowed with prior authorization from Facebook. These must adhere to the dating targeting requirements and our dating quality guidelines.
	 ONLINE REAL MONEY GAMBLING/GAMES OF SKILL: Ads that promote or facilitate online real money gambling, real money games of skill or real money lotteries, including online real money casino, sports books, bingo, or poker, are only allowed in specific countries with prior authorization from Facebook.
	 STATE LOTTERIES: Lotteries run by government entities may advertise on Facebook, provided the ads are targeted in accordance with applicable law in the jurisdiction in which the ads will be served and may only target users in the jurisdiction in which the lottery is available.
	 ONLINE PHARMACIES: Ads for online and offline pharmacies are only permitted with prior approval from Facebook.
	 SUPPLEMENTS: Ads that promote acceptable dietary and herbal supplements must target users at least 18 of age.
	 SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES: Ads for subscription services, or that promote products or services that include negative options, automatic renewal, free-to-pay conversion billing products, or mobile marketing are subject to our subscription services requirements found here.

4. TARGETING

	 You must not use targeting options to discriminate against, provoke, or disparage users or engage in predatory advertising practices.
	 If you target your ads to custom audiences, you must comply with the applicable terms when creating that audience.

5. POSITIONING

	 RELEVANCY: All components of an ad, including any text, images, or other media, must be relevant and appropriate to the product or service being offered and the audience viewing the ad.
	 ACCURACY: Ads must clearly represent the company, product, service, or brand that is being advertised.
	 LANDING PAGES: Products and services promoted in the ad copy must match those promoted on the landing page, and the destination site may not offer or link to any prohibited product or service.

6. TEXT IN IMAGES

	 Ads must not include added or excessive text that comprises more than 20% of the image.
	 Ads may include text that is part of your product. Learn more here.

7. USE OF THE FACEBOOK BRAND

	 Ads must not imply a Facebook endorsement or partnership of any kind.
	 Ads linking to Facebook branded content (including Pages, groups, events, or Connect sites) may make limited reference to "Facebook" in ad text for the purpose of clarifying the destination of the ad.
	 All other ads and landing pages must not use our copyrights or trademarks (including but not limited to Facebook, the Facebook and F Logos, FB, Face, and Book) or any confusingly similar marks, except as expressly permitted by our Brand Usage Guidelines or with our prior written permission.

8. DATA PROTECTION

	 Ensure any ad data collected, received or derived from your Facebook ad (“Facebook advertising data”) isn’t shared with anyone not acting on your behalf, such as your service provider. You are responsible for ensuring your service providers protect any information you obtained from us, limit their use of that information, and keep it confidential.
	 Don’t use Facebook advertising data for any purpose (including retargeting, commingling data across multiple advertisers’ campaigns, or allowing piggybacking or redirecting with tags), except on an aggregate and anonymous basis (unless authorized by Facebook) to assess the performance and effectiveness of your Facebook advertising campaigns.
	 Don’t use Facebook advertising data, including the targeting criteria for a Facebook ad, to build or augment user profiles, including profiles associated with any mobile device identifier or other unique identifier that identifies any particular user, browser, computer or device.
	 Don't transfer any Facebook advertising data (including anonymous, aggregate, or derived data) to any ad network, ad exchange, data broker or other advertising or monetization related service.

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