Why Was My Facebook Ad Not Approved — 9 Reasons

If you use Facebook for marketing purposes, you must’ve advertised your services or products on Facebook using Facebook’s ad campaigns. And if you’ve done that, then your ad must’ve been rejected at least once — which is very common on Facebook. There can be many reasons behind an ad request getting canceled on Facebook, and most of the time, the reasons are pretty self-explanatory. However, sometimes an ad seems perfect in terms of content, visuals, and formatting, but it still gets rejected, and you cannot understand its reason. Don’t worry about it! We are going to help you debunk the reason behind your ad’s rejection.

First off, before we move on to the reasons, you need to remember that you MUST adhere to Facebook’s advertising rules at all times and strictly follow the rules to keep your Facebook account or page in good standing. But what are the elements that can influence the time required for ad approval?

Elements That Can Influence Ad Approval Time

Facebook takes its sweet time to review ads and then approve them. The time can vary from merely minutes to as long as a day. When you apply for an ad request, it goes into a queue, and then Facebook operatives review your request to approve it or reject it. Here are some elements that can affect the time Facebook takes to approve ads:  

• Facebook Ad History — If you have been using Facebook to market your services by running ads for quite some time now and you have rarely had an ad rejected, then this credible history will work in your favor.
• Facebook Ad Spend — It is simple. The more you spend on an ad campaign, the faster your ad is likely to get reviewed and approved.
• Keywords — Keywords can make or break the deal for you. Beware of specific keywords that can trigger red flags or more controls, and that can lead to your ad copy getting rejected.
• Image Review — Facebook uses technologies like facial recognition to recognize certain patterns. If it detects any of those patterns, it will slow down the approval time.
• Domain Analysis — Facebook doesn’t just look at your ad copy and ad images. It also considers your landing pages and links and how trusted the domain you are linking to is.

Let’s see some of the reasons why Facebook didn’t accept your ad request.

1. Your Facebook Ad Is Clickbait

Who doesn’t know about clickbait, and who doesn’t hate it? Clickbait is a catchy headline, making a very bizarre claim that it seems impossible to get people to click on. Some of the most common examples of Clickbait ads are:

• 7 Snacks That Will Kill You
• 8 Stars Caught Naked
• You Won’t Believe What This Celebrity Did

Not only do people dislike visiting such sites that don’t have the information they claimed to have, but click baits are also linked to fake news. For instance, look at these ads by Jasper’s Market:

So, clickbait is bad news. Your ad won’t get approved if it falls into the category of Clickbait.

2. You Didn’t Follow Facebook's Brand Guidelines

Facebook has a list of guidelines for ads. Ads should not suggest that they are linked to Facebook in any way. This includes:

• Adding Facebook’s logo to your campaign.
• Pluralizing Facebook or abbreviating it as "FB.”
• Using the "f" or Facebook’s logo instead of the word "Facebook" in your ad’s copy.
• Changing Facebook's colors.

 So, if you do any of this, your ad won’t get approved.

3. You Used The Word Facebook

This one is directly related to the reason preceding it. If you include the word "Facebook" in your ad copy, it can imply that you are connected to Facebook and possibly a part of the organization.

Plus, using Facebook in your ad copy can damage the brand’s reputation since you are using it to make your business look better. If you want to prevent your ad from getting rejected again, do not use the word "Facebook."

4. Your Ad’s Copy Makes Assumptions About Facebook’s Users

Facebook doesn’t appreciate ads that make assumptions about users. By doing so, you can potentially endanger someone or offend them.  For example, you often see dating ads. An example of a dating ad making assumptions would be one that specifically targets gay men. If you also post a dating ad that says something like Meet Single Men in Your Area, you can out someone who wants to keep their sexuality private. Therefore, Facebook doesn’t like such ads because they make assumptions about their users.

Here is another example:

5. You Have Used Too Much Text On Your Image

Facebook has an unambiguous policy stating that you can’t have text covering over 20% of the area on your image. We understand the temptation of fitting more information in an ad image, but it isn’t worth it, especially if you are just going to get rejected like this:

Plus, everyone knows that images are more engaging than text and also deliver better click-through rates. So, even if Facebook didn’t prohibit it, we would’ve still recommended using lesser text and more images.

6. You Are Trying To Advertise Something Prohibited

Facebook has pretty straightforward policies, especially in the case of stuff that you can advertise and what you can’t. Here are the things that you can never market on Facebook:

• Explosives, weapons, ammunition
• Adult services or products
• Unsafe supplements (chitosan, comfrey, ephedra, human growth hormones, dehydroepiandrosterone, anabolic steroids)
• Surveillance equipment (mobile phone trackers, spy cams, other hidden surveillance equipment). For instance:

• Multilevel marketing schemes
• Payday loans
• Penny auctions
• Tobacco or related products (cigars, cigarettes, hookahs, hookah lounges, chewing tobacco, tobacco pipes, rolling papers, vaporized delivery devices, electronic cigarettes)
• Pharmaceuticals

7. There’s Something Wrong With Your Landing Page

Your landing page must function properly, so when a user clicks on your ad, they are directed to a landing page that works. If your landing page doesn’t function thoroughly, it will give your visitors a bad experience, and in return, Facebook will disapprove of your ad.

Examples of a nonfunctional landing page are:

• Incorrect menu navigation. For example, "Contact Us" leads people to your Instagram Page.
• Page not loading quickly.
• Videos that do not play.

Make sure to review your landing page before you send an ad request to ensure it works properly.  

8. You Are Trying To Promote Coin Offerings

Facebook’s Advertising Policies also prohibit Facebook users from marketing or promoting any kind of coin offerings.

Coin offerings are a type of crowdfunding. They use cryptocurrencies and aren’t inherently malicious, but they’ve been used in the past to scam people for money. If you decide to market any type of coin offering, it will never get approved. And even if it does get approved, the ad won’t run for long because Facebook will detect it soon.

9. Your Ad Promises Unrealistic Results

Facebook only posts truthful ads. If you try to lie to Facebook and its users or promise them unrealistic results, Facebook won’t approve your ad. For example, if you sell weight-loss products, services, or supplements, don’t exaggerate the results of your products in your ad. Do not promise your audience that your product or service will help them lose 20 pounds in just five days when you know that it’s impossible.

So, stay truthful, and Facebook won’t reject your ad.  

Tips For Getting Your Ads reapproved

You can keep in mind some tips when posting an ad request to prevent your ad from getting rejected. Let’s dive into them:

• Try to use different tools like Facebook Grid Image Checker. These tools can help you define your text-to-image ratio to make sure you post the correct image before starting your ad campaign.
• Boost your post on your Facebook business page to reach your target audience without going through the trouble of designing audience-specific ad campaigns. This comes in handy, especially when you’ve been dealing with rejections.
• Make sure you proofread your text to see if there are any typos or grammatical issues. Grammarly is a good application to start with.  

Conclusion

Facebook has the right to approve, remove, or reject any ad or content on its platform for any reason at its sole discretion. This also includes ads that Facebook thinks can negatively affect its relationship with its users. These guidelines and rules can be changed at any time. So, you never know if the content, services, or activity you want to promote will get approved or not.

But, it is not that difficult. Just follow Facebook’s rules, and your ad will get approved.