Advertising Policies Overview The Ad Review Process Steps to Take if Disapproved Prohibited Content Restricted Content Video Ads Targeting Positioning Text in Images Lead Ads Use of Our Brand Assets Data Use Restrictions Things You Should Know 1. Overview Understanding Our Policies Our Advertising Policies provide guidance on what types of ad content are allowed. When advertisers place an order, each ad is reviewed against these policies. If you think your ad was mistakenly disapproved, please let us know. Common Points of Confusion To help you build a compliant and user-friendly ads experience we've highlighted some common areas of confusion. Click the links below to learn more about each policy: Personal Attributes Sexually Suggestive Content Facebook's Brands 2. The Ad Review Process Before ads show up on Facebook or Instagram, they’re reviewed to make sure they meet our Advertising Policies. Typically most ads are reviewed within 24 hours, although in some cases it may take longer. What We Consider During the ad review process, we'll check your ad's images, text, targeting, and positioning, in addition to the content on your ad's landing page. Your ad may not be approved if the landing page content isn't fully functional, doesn't match the product/service promoted in your ad or doesn't fully comply with our Advertising Policies. What Happens After an Ad is Reviewed? After your ad is reviewed, you'll receive a notification letting you know if your ad is approved. If it’s approved, we'll start running your ad and you can see your results in the Ads Manager. 3. Steps to Take if Disapproved Edit Your Ad If your ad isn't approved for not fully complying with our policies, you can edit it and resubmit for review. To edit your ad: Check the email address associated with your advertising account. If your ad doesn't get approved, we'll send you an email with details that explain why. Using the information in your disapproval email, you can edit your ad and create a compliant one. Check this page for editing steps. Save your edited changes. Once you save your changes, your ad will be resubmitted for review. Appeal the Decision If you can't edit your ad or feel it was a mistake that it wasn't approved, you can appeal the decision using this form.4. Prohibited Content 1. Community Standards Ads must not violate our Community Standards. Ads on Instagram must not violate the Instagram Community Guidelines. 2. Illegal Products or Services Ads must not constitute, facilitate, or promote illegal products, services or activities. Ads targeted to minors must not promote products, services, or content that are inappropriate, illegal, or unsafe, or that exploit, mislead, or exert undue pressure on the age groups targeted. 3. Discriminatory Practices Ads must not discriminate or encourage discrimination against people based on personal attributes such as race, ethnicity, color, national origin, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, family status, disability, medical or genetic condition. Learn more 4. Tobacco Products Ads must not promote the sale or use of tobacco products and related paraphernalia. Learn more 5. Drugs & Drug-Related Products Ads must not promote the sale or use of illegal, prescription, or recreational drugs. Learn more 6. Unsafe Supplements Ads must not promote the sale or use of unsafe supplements, as determined by Facebook in its sole discretion. Learn more 7. Weapons, Ammunition, or Explosives Ads must not promote the sale or use of weapons, ammunition, or explosives. Learn more 8. Adult Products or Services Ads must not promote the sale or use of adult products or services, except for ads for family planning and contraception. Ads for contraceptives must focus on the contraceptive features of the product, and not on sexual pleasure or sexual enhancement, and must be targeted to people 18 years or older. Learn more 9. Adult Content Ads must not contain adult content. This includes nudity, depictions of people in explicit or suggestive positions, or activities that are overly suggestive or sexually provocative. Learn more 10. Third-Party Infringement Ads must not contain content that infringes upon or violates the rights of any third party, including copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity, or other personal or proprietary rights. To report content that you feel may infringe upon or violate your rights, please check these details. 11. Sensational Content Ads must not contain shocking, sensational, disrespectful or excessively violent content. Learn more 12. Personal Attributes Ads must not contain 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. Learn more 13. Misleading or False Content Ads must not contain deceptive, false, or misleading content, including deceptive claims, offers, or business practices. Learn more 14. Controversial Content Ads must not contain content that exploits controversial political or social issues for commercial purposes. 15. Non-Functional Landing Page Ads must not direct people to non-functional landing pages. This includes landing page content that interferes with a person’s ability to navigate away from the page. Learn more 16. Surveillance Equipment Ads may not promote the sale of spy cams, mobile phone trackers or other hidden surveillance equipment. 17. Grammar & Profanity Ads must not contain profanity or bad grammar and punctuation. Symbols, numbers, and letters must be used properly. Learn more 18. Nonexistent Functionality Ads must not contain images that portray nonexistent functionality. Learn more 19. Personal Health Ads must not contain "before-and-after" images or images that contain unexpected or unlikely results. Ad content must not imply or attempt to generate negative self-perception in order to promote diet, weight loss, or other health related products. Ads for health, fitness or weight loss products must be targeted to people 18 years or older. Learn more 20. Payday or Cash Advance Loans Ads must not promote payday loans, paycheck advances or any other short-term loan intended to cover someone's expenses until their next payday. 21. Multilevel Marketing Ads promoting income opportunities must fully describe the associated product or business model, and must not promote business models offering quick compensation for little investment, including multilevel marketing opportunities. Learn more 22. Penny Auctions Ads may not promote penny auctions, bidding fee auctions or other similar business models. 23. Counterfeit Documents Ads may not promote fake documents, such as counterfeit degrees, passports or immigration papers. 24. Low Quality or Disruptive Content Ads must not contain content leading to external landing pages that provide an unexpected or disruptive experience. This includes misleading ad positioning, such as overly sensationalized headlines, and leading people to landing pages that contain minimal original content and a majority of unrelated or low quality ad content. Learn more 25. Spyware or Malware Ads must not contain spyware, malware, or any software that results in an unexpected or deceptive experience. This includes links to sites containing these products. 26. Automatic Animation Ads must not contain audio or flash animation that plays automatically without a person's interaction or expands within Facebook after someone clicks on the ad. 27. Unauthorized Streaming Devices Ads must not promote products or items that facilitate or encourage unauthorized access to digital media. 5. Restricted Content 1. 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. Note that ads promoting or referencing alcohol are prohibited in some countries, including but not limited to: Afghanistan, Brunei, Bangladesh, Egypt, Gambia, Kuwait, Libya, Norway, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and Yemen. Learn more 2. Dating Ads for online dating services are only allowed with prior written permission. These must adhere to the dating targeting requirements and our dating quality guidelines found here. In order to be a registered dating partner, please fill out this form to begin your application process. Learn more 3. Real Money Gambling 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 with prior written permission. Authorized gambling, games of skill or lottery ads must target people 18 years or older who are in jurisdictions for which permission has been granted. Learn more 4. 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 only target people in the jurisdiction in which the lottery is available. Learn more 5. Online Pharmacies Ads must not promote the sale of prescription pharmaceuticals. Ads for online and offline pharmacies are only permitted with prior written permission. 6. Supplements Ads that promote acceptable dietary and herbal supplements may only target people who are at least 18 years of age. Learn more 7. 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. Learn more 8. Financial Services Ads promoting credit card applications or financial services with accredited institutions must clearly provide sufficient disclosure regarding associated fees, including APR percentages transaction fees, within the ad's landing page. Ads promoting loans or insurance services must not directly request the input of a person’s financial information, including credit card information. 9. Branded Content Ads promoting branded content must tag the featured third party product, brand, or business partner using the branded content tool. Branded content within ads is defined as content where the content’s editorial voice has been influenced by and features a third party product, brand, or business partner (e.g. product placement, sponsorships, business partner logos, etc.). When promoting branded content integrations, advertisers must use the branded content tool (please learn more here on how to tag the featured third party product, brand, or business partner). 10. Student Loan Services Ads promoting student loan services must be targeted to people 18 years or older. Ads must not promote misleading or deceptive services related to student loan consolidation, forgiveness, or refinancing. 6. Video Ads Video ads and other dynamic ad types must comply the all of the rules listed in these Advertising Policies, including the Community Standards, as well as the policies below: 1. Disruptive Content Videos and other similar ad types must not use overly disruptive tactics, such as flashing screens. 2. Entertainment Related Restrictions Ads for movie trailers, TV shows, video game trailers, and other similar content intended for mature audiences are only allowed with prior written permission from Facebook and must target people who are 18 years or older. Excessive depictions of the following content within these ads are not allowed: 1. Drugs and alcohol use2. Adult content3. Profanity4. Violence and gore7. Targeting 1. You must not use targeting options to discriminate against, harass, provoke, or disparage users or to engage in predatory advertising practices. 2. If you target your ads to custom audiences, you must comply with the applicable terms when creating an audience. 8. Positioning 1. Relevance All ad components, 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. 2. Accuracy Ads must clearly represent the company, product, service, or brand that is being advertised. 3. Related Landing Pages The products and services promoted in an ad's text must match those promoted on the landing page, and the destination site must not offer or link to any prohibited product or service. 9. Text in Images Our policies previously prohibited ads with text that covered more than 20% of an ad's image. We've recently implemented a new solution that allows ads with greater than 20% text to run, but with less or no delivery. To find out more about this change and how it impacts your ads, visit the Advertiser Help Center.10. Lead Ads Advertisers must not create Lead Ads questions to request the following types of information without our prior written permission. 1. Account Numbers Ads must not request account numbers, including frequent flyer numbers, loyalty card numbers, or cable or telephone account numbers without our prior permission. 2. Criminal History Ads must not request information regarding criminal or arrest history without our prior permission. Learn more 3. Financial Information Ads must not request financial information, including bank account numbers, bank routing numbers, credit or debit card numbers, credit scores, income, net worth or how much debt someone has without our prior permission. Learn more 4. Government Issued Identifiers Ads must not request government-issued identifiers, including Social Security numbers, passport numbers or driver's license numbers without our prior permission. 5. Health Information Ads must not request health information, including physical health, mental health, medical treatments, medical conditions or disabilities without our prior permission. Learn more 6. Insurance Information Ads must not request insurance information, including current insurance policy numbers, without our prior permission. Learn more 7. Political Affiliation Ads must not request information regarding political affiliation without our prior permission. Learn more 8. Race or Ethnicity Ads must not request information regarding race or ethnicity without our prior permission. Learn more 9. Religion Ads must not request information regarding religion or philosophical beliefs without our prior permission. Learn more 10. Sexual Orientation Ads must not request information regarding sexual orientation or information about the sexual life of the individual, including what gender(s) the person prefers to date, without our prior permission. Learn more 11. Template Questions Ads must not request the same or substantially similar information that you could use a Template Question to request. Learn more 12. Trade Union Membership Ads must not request information regarding trade Union membership status without our prior permission. Learn more 13. Usernames or Passwords Ads must not request usernames or passwords, including usernames and passwords for existing and new accounts, without our prior permission. If you want to direct people to sign up for an account with your site or service, you should use the CLICKS TO WEBSITE or WEBSITE CONVERSIONS objective when you run your ads. Learn more11. Use of Our Brand Assets 1. Brand Endorsement Ads must not imply a Facebook or Instagram endorsement or partnership of any kind, or an endorsement by any other Facebook Company. 2. Facebook's Brands Ads linking to Facebook or Instagram branded content (including Pages, groups, events, or sites that use Facebook Login) may make limited reference to "Facebook" or "Instagram" in ad text for the purpose of clarifying the destination of the ad. Learn more 3. Copyrights & Trademarks All other ads and landing pages must not use our copyrights, Trademarks, or any confusingly similar marks, except as expressly permitted by our Brand Usage Guidelines or the Instagram Brand Guidelines, or with our prior written permission. 12. Data Use Restrictions 1. Ensure any ad data collected, received or derived from your Facebook or Instagram ad (“Facebook advertising data”) is only shared with someone acting on your behalf, such as your service provider. You are responsible for ensuring your service providers protect any Facebook advertising data or any other information obtained from us, limit their use of all of that information, and keep it confidential and secure. 2. 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) and only to assess the performance and effectiveness of your Facebook advertising campaigns. 3. Don’t use Facebook advertising data, including the targeting criteria for your ad, to build, append to, edit, influence, 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. 4. 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. 13. Things You Should Know 1. The Advertising Policies apply to (1) ads and commercial content served by or purchased through Facebook, on or off the Facebook services, including ads purchased under AAAA/IAB Standard Terms and Conditions, (2) ads appearing within apps on Facebook, and (3) ads on Instagram. Your use of Facebook’s advertising products and services is part of “Facebook” under Facebook’s Statement of Rights and Responsibilities (https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms, the “SRR”) and is subject to the SRR.You may be subject to additional terms or guidelines if you use Instagram or certain Facebook advertising-related products or services. 2. Advertisers are responsible for understanding and complying with all applicable laws and regulations. Failure to comply may result in a variety of consequences, including the cancellation of ads you have placed and termination of your account. 3. 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 the people who use Facebook or Instagram. 4. 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. You are responsible for ensuring that each advertiser complies with these Advertising Policies. 5. 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. 6. For policies that require prior written permission, Facebook or a Facebook Company may grant these permissions. 7. These policies are subject to change at any time without notice.
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