Your Facebook Ad was Rejected

Most small businesses have either run or thought about running Facebook Ads. One area that I’ve had several clients reach out to me about is their Ads being rejected by Facebook.  It’s their platform and they have specific Facebook Advertising Policies that you must comply with in order to get your ads up and running.

This is yet another reason that you need to make sure that you maintain contact with your customers and potential customers on a space that you OWN – like your email list and website.  I’m going to stick to Facebook in this post for now, but just remember that you don’t own Facebook, so you have to abide by their rules, no matter how frustrating they may be at times.

Why is my Facebook Ad Rejected?

Don’t take it personally if you get a rejected Facebook Ad.  From what I’ve seen there are several areas that put up red flags for Facebook.

Most Facebook Ads are approved within 24 hours and from what I’ve seen, it looks like the first pass may be a computer algorithm checking the ad.  Some Facebook business pages are simply in a category that Facebook puts extra scrutiny on and many ads are simply automatically rejected. Frustrating, I know!

Facebook implemented Special Ad Categories.  These are ads have additional restrictions when advertising for housing, employment and credit.  I’ve noticed that even if your Page is related to one of these categories, but the specific ad you are running has nothing to do with a special ad category, you can be automatically rejected.

Here’s what Facebook has said about why these Special Ad Categories were developed:

Facebook is committed to protecting people from discrimination, and we are continually improving our ability to detect and deter potential abuse.

Maybe Facebook Just Doesn’t Like Me!

If you’re not in a Facebook Special Ad Category, but still can’t get an ad up and running, there can be any number of reasons why Facebook is giving you a hard time. 

Facebook keeps up with what your business page is about and what you’re posting.  There is a whole list of prohibited and restricted content.  If you’ve mentioned any of it on your page and Facebook thinks there’s a chance that you’re advertising for anything not allowed, you’ll get a pretty quick rejection of your ad.

I’ve had an increase in clients coming to me asking for help with their Facebook Ads recently because they can’t get them approved.

Facebook is now the Grammar Police?

Did you know that Facebook can reject an Ad if they find it has poor grammar? That’s right! Facebook does not allow “bad grammar and punctuation”. 

Facebook also doesn’t allow ads for online dating services without their “prior written permission.” Maybe they don’t want competition for their new Dating feature.

Who has time to read all of the fine print?

The bottom line is, only Facebook really knows exactly why they rejected your ad and maybe they’ll tell you or maybe they won’t. Every Facebook account that I’ve looked at for rejected Facebook Ads had a different scenario and a different fix.  There’s usually not a one size fits all answer to getting your Facebook Ad Approved.  The biggest tip I can give is to make sure you are complying with all of their policies and to be persistent, you’ll get there eventually.  If you feel like Facebook just doesn’t like you and need  help, contact me to help get your Facebook Ad approved.

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