New Facebook Ads Guidelines
Posted on July 22nd, 2008 in Facebook
If you're tired of refreshing this page every day like a d-bag, you should probably subscribe to the RSS feed.
Well, Nickycakes managed to get his hands on these a little early, so enjoy! Sorry for the formatting, but its copy/pasted and the Cakes is far too lazy to format it properly. This is why your ads keep getting rejected:
Summary of Policy Changes
1. Personalized ads
• You can only use profile attributes (age, gender, location) in an advertisement if it is directly relevant to the offering (e.g., a legitimate survey needing females age 25-30). Prohibited ad text includes ‘Single at 32?’, ‘Overweight at 30?’, ‘Balding at 35?’, ‘Age 25 Product Testers’, where age is completely irrelevant to the ad/offer.
2. Health ads (weight loss, hair loss, plastic surgery, etc)
• Cannot imply that the user the ad is targeted to has a health condition (e.g., cannot say “Do you need to lose weight?”, “Balding?”)
• Ads cannot depict a state of health as being the perfect or desired state of health (e.g, you cannot imply there is a perfect body weight by using an image of a person’s abs/small waist)
• Cannot depict a health condition in a negative light (e.g., cannot use an image of an overweight individual for a weight loss product or someone going bald for a hair loss prevention product)
• May not insult a user (e.g., cannot say or imply fat, bald, overweight, hair loss – all wording must be neutral to positive, e.g. ‘Propecia helps grow back hair quickly and safely.’, ‘Jenny Craig teaches safe and effective diet habits’.)
• May not encourage someone to lose an unhealthy amount of weight in a short period of time (e.g., ‘lose 11 pounds in 9 days’); should not use images to depict changes in health state that are unlikely (e.g., really obese person becoming a very slender person)
• Weight-loss ads may not be targeted to users under the age of 18
3. Money making opportunity/freebie ads
• Ads that position a money making opportunity as a job alternative are prohibited (e.g., Earn $100/hour answering surveys)
• ‘Get rich quick’ and other money making opportunities that offer compensation for little or no investment, including money making schemes positioned as alternatives to part-time or fulltime employment (get rich quick, data entry, work from home, non-legit surveys, non-legit product testing)
• If an ad includes a price, discount, or ‘free’ offer, the advertisement must clearly state what action or set of actions is required to qualify for the offer. (e.g. - sign up for 3 sponsored offers, invite 8 friends, etc – should not be vague at all)
4. Adult content
• Mandatory 18+ targeting for provocative or adult content. This includes, but is not limited to adult topics such as contraception, sex education, and health conditions.
5. ‘Anti’ ads
• Cannot advocate against any organization, person, or group of people, except for people running for public office (e.g., no anti-Israel ads)
6. Dating ads
• All dating ads must be targeted to a specific gender and sexual preference (e.g., Females ‘Looking For’ Men) and will continue to be required to target ‘single’ people, 18+.
Facebook Advertising Guidelines
Updated on July 21, 2008
Advertising Philosophy
The core of the Facebook brand is our user experience, and this experience is continually
reinforced by our product’s distinct look & feel, functionality, personality, and utility.
Because Facebook strives to make our product useful, everything that exists within the
site should conform and contribute to the overall Facebook user experience, including
advertising.
Facebook is committed to protecting our user experience by keeping the site clean,
uncluttered, and free from intrusive advertising. We believe that we can help transform
existing advertising on Facebook into tailored messages to our users, because they are
based on how their friends interact and affiliate with the brands, music artists, and
businesses they care about.
Facebook provides the following guidelines to help you communicate more effectively
with your desired audience. Please note that all advertising placed within Facebook must
adhere to these guidelines, and Facebook reserves the right to reject any advertising that
we deem contrary to our ad philosophy. These guidelines are also subject to change at
any time. Facebook may waive any of these guidelines at its discretion.
Advertising Guidelines
NOTE: In addition to the guidelines below, all advertising on Facebook must comply
with our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
1. Accounts
• Advertisers are not permitted to manage multiple online advertising accounts.
• Advertisers must not programmatically automate the creation of accounts or ads.
2. Landing pages / Destination URLs
• Ads that contain a URL or domain in the body must link to that same URL or
domain.
• All users must be sent to the same landing page when the ad is clicked.
• Landing pages that generate a pop-up (including “pop-overs” and “pop-unders”)
when a user enters or leaves the page are not allowed.
• Landing pages cannot use “fake” close behavior (ie. when a user clicks the ‘close’
icon on the page, the page should close down and no other behavior should
result).
• Landing pages cannot utilize “mouse trapping” whereby the advertiser does not
allow users to use their browser “back button” and traps them on their site and/or
presents any other unexpected behavior (for example: navigation to another ad or
page).
• No ad may require viewers clicking on the ad to submit personal information
(phone numbers, physical addresses, email addresses, etc.) on the landing page or
in the ad , except to enable an ecommerce transaction and when the ad and
landing page clearly indicate that a product is being sold.
• A secure server connection (https) must be used when collecting personal
information from users.
• Ads and landing pages cannot contain Facebook trademarks or logos, or otherwise
reference Facebook in the content of the landing page or its URL.
3. Ad copy
• Ads must directly relate to the content on the landing page.
• Ads must clearly state and represent the company, product, or brand that is being
advertised.
• Ads may not utilize a user attribute, such as age, gender, or location, unless it is
directly relevant to the offer.
• Ads may not insult a user.
4. Grammar, sentence structure, spelling, and spacing
• Ad text must be grammatically correct and contain proper sentence structure. All
ad text must be in complete sentences.
• Ads may not include excessive repetition (such as “buy, buy, buy”).
• Ads must use correct spelling.
• Ad text must contain grammatically correct spacing.
5. Capitalization
• Ads must use proper, grammatically correct capitalization.
• Ads may not include excessive capitalization (such as ‘FREE’) or incorrect
capitalization (such as capitalizing the first letter of every word in a sentence).
• The first letter of all proper nouns should be capitalized. Acronyms may be
capitalized.
• The title of the ad, as well as the first word in each sentence, must begin with a
capital letter.
6. Punctuation
• Ads must include logical, correct punctuation.
• Repeated and unnecessary punctuation (such as ‘Buy now!!!’) is not permitted.
• All complete sentences (including if the ad title is a complete sentence) must end
with a single punctuation mark. Ending a sentence with ellipses, dashes, etc is not
permitted.
• Exclamation points may not be used in the title of any ad.
7. Symbols
• The use of all symbols, numbers, or letters must adhere to the true meaning of the
symbol.
• Repeated and unnecessary symbols are not permitted.
• Symbols may not be used:
1. To substitute for letters (e.g. “$ave” instead of “save”).
2. To substitute for entire words (e.g. “&” instead of “and” or “$” instead of
“cash/dollars/money”).
3. As unnecessary abbreviations to shorten character count (e.g. “w/” instead
of “with” or “@” instead of “at”).
• Symbols may be used:
1. If the symbol is part of the product or brand name.
2. If the $ symbol is paired with a dollar amount (e.g. “Save $100 today”).
3. If the # symbol is used for comparative phrases (e.g. “Voted the #1 site by
NY Times”).
8. Language and adult content
• Provocative images will not be accepted.
• Ads may not contain, facilitate or promote adult content, including nudity, sexual
terms and/or images of people in positions or activities that are excessively
suggestive or sexual.
• Ads may not contain, facilitate or promote offensive, profane, vulgar, obscene, or
inappropriate language.
• Ads may not contain, facilitate or promote defamatory, libelous, slanderous
and/or unlawful content.
9. Prohibited Content
We do not accept advertising referencing, facilitating or promoting the following:
• Tobacco products
• Ammunition, firearms, paintball guns, bb guns, or weapons of any kind
• Gambling, including without limitation any online casino, sports books,
bingo, or poker
• Ringtones
• Software downloads, freeware, or shareware
• Scams, illegal activity and/or illegal contests, pyramid schemes, or chain
letters
• Uncertified pharmaceutical products
• Adult friend finders or dating sites with a sexual emphasis
• Adult toys, videos, or other adult products
• Web cams or surveillance equipment
• Web-based non-accredited colleges that offer degrees
• Inflammatory religious content
• Politically religious agendas and/or any known associations with hate,
criminal and/or terrorist activities
• Political content that exploits political agendas or uses “hot button” political
issues for commercial use regardless of whether the advertiser has a political
agenda
• Hate speech, whether directed at an individual or a group, and whether based
upon the race, sex, creed, national origin, religious affiliation, marital status,
sexual orientation or language of such individual or group
• Content that advocates against any organization, person, or group of people,
with the exception of candidates running for public office.
• Content that depicts a health condition in a derogatory or inflammatory way or
misrepresents a health condition in any way.
• “Get rich quick” and other money making opportunities that offer
compensation for little or no investment, including money making schemes
positioned as alternatives to part-time or full-time employment.
10. Targeting
• Ads for dating sites, services, or related content must follow these targeting
criteria: (i) the Relationship Status targeting parameter must be utilized and set to
Single, (ii) the Sex targeting parameter must be utilized and a single value of
Male or Female must be selected, (iii) the Age targeting parameter must be
utilized and the age range selected must start at least 18 years old, (iv) the
Interested In targeting parameter must be utilized and a single value of either Men
or Women must be selected.
• Ads with adult themes, including contraception, sex education, and health
conditions must be targeted to individuals at least 18 years old.
11. Facebook references
• Ads are not permitted to mention or refer to Facebook, its site or its brand in any
manner, including in the title, body, image, or destination URLs.
• Ads must not use Facebook logos, trademarks, or site terminology (including
Facebook, The Facebook, FacebookHigh, FBook, FB, Poke, The Wall, and other
company graphics, logos, designs, or icons).
• Facebook site features may not be emulated.
12. Ads for Alcoholic Beverages
• Ads must all be targeted to people 21 years old or older in the US, 19 years old or
older in Canada, 18 years old or older in the UK, and 21 years old or older
everywhere else. All Facebook Pages viewer restrictions must be set at 21+
regardless of the country they are in or targeted to. In the case where a user’s age
cannot be determined, the ad cannot be displayed to the user in question.
• It is recommended that the ad creative contain text that promotes drinking
responsibility. Acceptable examples include ‘Drink Responsibly’ and ‘Drink
Smart.’
• No ad should include content that might appeal to (or mislead) minors by
implying that the consumption of alcoholic beverages is fashionable or the
accepted course of behavior for those who are underage.
• No ad creative promoting alcoholic beverages should include any person under
the age of 21 or be suggestive of the presence of minors.
• Ads may not portray or promote intoxication. Ads should not induce people to
consume alcohol in excess, make references to the intoxicating effects of alcohol,
depict activities that encourage excessive consumption or that encourage drinking
at a rapid rate, or suggest the strength of the alcoholic beverage being advertised.
• Ads may not promote any giveaways as a reward for purchasing the alcoholic
product
13. No incentives
• No ad may offer incentives to viewers for clicking on the ad, for submitting
personal information (cell phone numbers, social security numbers, physical
addresses, email addresses, etc.), or for performing any other tasks.
14. Prices, discounts, and free offers
• No ad may be deceptive or fraudulent about any offer it makes.
• If an ad includes a price, discount, or ‘free’ offer, the destination URL for the ad
must link to a page that clearly and accurately offers the exact deal the ad has
displayed.
• If an ad includes a price, discount, or ‘free’ offer, the advertisement must clearly
state what action or set of actions is required to qualify for the offer.
15. Copyrights and trademarks
• In both ad text and image, you must not include any content that may be deemed
as infringing upon the rights of any third party, including copyright, trademark,
privacy, publicity or other personal or proprietary right, or that is deceptive or
fraudulent.
• Advertiser must have intellectual property rights to the creative and be permitted
to display such creative as advertising on the Facebook Site.
16. Spam
• No ad may contain, facilitate or promote ‘spam’ or other advertising or marketing
content that violates applicable laws, regulations or industry standards.
17. Downloads
• No ad is permitted to contain or link, whether directly or indirectly, to a site that
contains software downloads, freeware, or shareware.
• No ad is permitted to facilitate or promote (or contain a link to a site that
facilitates or promotes):
(1) Collection of demographic and usage information from a user’s
computer without the user’s express consent,
(2) Collection or request of usernames or passwords from any user,
(3) Proxying user names or passwords for the purpose of automating
logins to the Facebook site,
(4) Containing or distributing any software that (i) “sneaks” onto a user’s
system and performs activities hidden to the user, (ii) may alter, harm,
disable or replace any hardware or software installed on user’s
computer without express permission from the user, (iii) is bundled as
a hidden component of other software whether free or for fee, (iv)
automatically downloads without Facebook’s express prior approval,
(v) presents any download dialog boxes without a user’s express
action, or (vi) may violate or infringe upon the intellectual property
rights of any third party, including copyright, trademark, patent or any
other proprietary right
