You're running a marketing campaign on Facebook and your CPCs look good, products or services are selling well then out of the blue you see your Facebook ads blocked.
You open up Ads Manager to pull up your Facebook ads, but everything looks fine to you. So you hit the button to appeal your rejected ads.
You're pretty confident you'll have Facebook ads running live again soon - why wouldn't you? Every ad looked pretty normal in your eyes right? So you click Request Review. But then...crickets.
I've worked at Facebook for many years, assisting Toyota to Jamba Juice with their ads to ensure their Facebook ads were approved. If you'd like the same white glove service for your ad compliance, schedule a discovery call here.
In this article I'll give you some help on what to do if you get your Facebook Ads blocked.
Facebook Ads Blocked Revealed
What's the point of Facebook rejecting ads? Doesn't that cause a loss of income to Meta? I mean, it's a hassle when Facebook has to deal with 1000s of ad appeals and make people like you google Facebook ads blocked me.
TLDR is a 3 part answer:
1. Meta/Facebook refuses to hire more people to manually review Facebook ads
2. Fake ads and impersonation of legit IG accounts is at an all time high this year
3. Facebook is a private website, not a public entity and they have to limit scammers
As a result, more Facebook ads than ever are getting rejected right now. Facebook's automations are not human and don't have human context.
Meta's algorithm can't tell if you are a clickbait farm or just an honest business that doesn't know all the ad policies. So they flag you for circumventing their systems. For my essential guide to Facebook ad policies click here.
But hey, all you want to do is decrease the bottom line, get ROI and make your clients happy right?
Three Main Automations That Scan Your FB Ads
There are essentially 3 automations at work when your ads get blocked. One just reads all your words in the ad copy above the creative, and scans the image or video, as well as your landing page.
Want to make sure your landing page doesn't get flagged by Facebook? Click here.
Then, if you are breaking Facebook's rules, it will reject your ad. The 2nd automation is the one you interact with when you click on the "Request Review" button. The machines will talk to each other and machine 1 will provide the evidence.
Machine 2 will evaluate this evidence and either:
○ Turn your ads back on
○ Reject your ads
○ Not respond at all
But here's the thing most advertisers miss: machines make mistakes. You're thinking, "Hell yeah they mistakenly flagged me!!" Not quite.
Facebook's automations make mistakes both ways when approving ads as well as disapproving ads. Just like when you have too many tabs open on your computer's internet browser and the screen freezes.
FB automations may also glitch and accidentally approve ads that are supposed to be blocked.
What does that mean for you?
First, you get the false idea that what you're doing is ok when it is not. And...Well, if your rejected ad gets approved even though it IS against ad policies you get invisible strikes against your ad account. For the most common Facebook ad policies explained click here.
Why FB Ads Get Shut Down OUT OF NOWHERE
So, your Facebook ads were blocked, you appealed, get the ad approved, it runs again but then next week gets disapproved again.
Why is that?
It's because even if Facebook's automations mistakenly approved an ad breaking Facebook ad policies, the machines are relentless constantly rescanning all the ads on the platform.
This is why when you think everything is fine, then one ad gets rejected. Or even when you have all ads live and running, suddenly your ad account gets disabled out of nowhere.
It isn't actually out of nowhere. Your Facebook ads that were against the ad policies and approved by mistakes still racked up strikes against your ad account. That's because of the third automation that tracks how many times your ad account has come under fire even if by mistake.
I've done so many things working at Facebook in ads, tech and project management (check my Linkedin here). So, I'm happy to shed some light on Facebook ads getting blocked beyond the boiler plate Facebook help articles.
Just like Trubrain found out, you really need to know what is triggering Facebook to put you on their radar. If Facebook has shut you down and you need an explanation, I can audit your funnel and let you know exactly what the automations are flagging and how to get compliant. Schedule a discovery call here.
How Facebook's Algorithm Works
The Facebook algorithm determines which posts people see every time they check their Facebook feed, and in what order those posts show up. The Facebook algorithm reviews every post.
It scores posts and then arranges them in descending, non-chronological order of interest for each individual user.
For an in depth look at the top reasons why Facebook disables ad accounts click here.
I'll get into how this applies to your Facebook ads in a bit but first let's take a brief walk down memory lane for how the Facebook algorithm has changed in the past few years.
Facebook Algorithm Then & Now
- 2009: Facebook premieres its first algorithm to bump posts with the most Likes to the top of the feed.
- 2015: Facebook starts downranking Pages that post too much overly promotional content. They introduce the “See First” feature to let users indicate that they’d like a Page’s posts to be prioritized in their feed.
- 2016: Facebook adds a “time spent” ranking signal to measure a post’s value based on the amount of time users spent with it, even if they didn’t like or share it.
- 2017: Facebook starts weighing reactions (e.g., hearts or the angry face) more than classic Likes. Another ranking signal is added for video: completion rate. In other words, videos that keep people watching to the end are shown to more people. I never liked this shit, having to toggle just to "like" a post is annoying af.
- 2018: The Facebook new algorithm prioritizes “posts that spark conversations and meaningful interactions.” Posts from friends, family and Facebook Groups were prioritized over organic content from Pages. Brands would now need to earn a lot more engagement to signal value to the algorithm.
- 2019: Facebook prioritizes “high-quality, original video” that keeps viewers watching longer than 1 minute, especially video that holds attention longer than 3 minutes. If you're running video ads, you noticed this.
Facebook also started bumping up content from “close friends”: those that people engage with the most. The “Why am I seeing this post” tool is introduced.
- 2020: Facebook reveals some details of the algorithm to help users understand how it serves content, and lets users take control of their data to give the algorithm better feedback. In reality this did little to change the BS decisions Facebook's automations make sometimes.
The algorithm began to evaluate the credibility and quality of news articles in order to promote substantiated news rather than misinformation. And this released a shitstorm of false flags for social issue ads.
FB's Move Fast & Break Things 2022
Ok ok but move fast and break things mode - you're like, "2022 is so different now - so much has changed."
You're right - even Google just busted out a "Quick Read" update it's beta testing:
Well, privacy became a huge concern after Cambridge Analytica. And fucking Russian hackers tried to sow misinformation with thousands of fake profiles on Facebook.
Facebook started adding more transparency (on everything but the actual ad policies ironically):
- 2021: Facebook releases new details about its algorithm and gives people better access to their data.
Facebook even attempted to open up more about their machine learning and how much it is geared towards hating clickbait when ranking content:
You know how it's only been a few years since 2020 but it feels like a decade because of all the changes? Well now that Facebook is imitating TikTok with a new discovery engine, you have to get up to speed on what's next.
How the Facebook Algorithm is TikToking in 2022
So, where does all of this leave us in 2022? The new Discovery engine is going to fuck a lot of shit up. But we advertisers know how to pivot right? Err...let's talk a bit about where Meta is at today then return to Facebook ads blocked. (If you're looking for the scoop on the top reasons that Facebook ads get rejected click here.)
NOTE: Facebook Ads Are Flagged for Landing Pages Too
According to a leaked memo Facebook’s new “Discovery Engine” will algorithmically share with users much more content from outside the accounts and pages they follow.
Facebook has also gotten more strict on its Community Standards - the rules for regular non ad Facebook users. They “remove or limit audiences for certain kinds of sensitive content,” such as nudity, violence, and graphic content.
Or at least what Facebook perceives to be graphic content. And perception is everything.
This is a hard right turn away from the platform’s attempts to focus on content shared by friends and family. In its memo, Facebook said the face of social media is changing. That they need engines “that help people find and enjoy interesting content regardless of whether it was produced by someone you’re connected to or not.”
Is Facebook Still About Connecting People?
The company’s document states that they want to focus on “connecting people.” The new feature will help people connect via shared interests or identity.
The FB app will include Stories and Reels at the top of the page while showing you curated discovered content underneath. Groups will be renamed to “Communities.” And the Page will focus more on short-video content that plays to the viral format that incentivizes younger users to use the platform.
These proposed changes will not only completely reinvent the platform’s feed systems that were initially changed in 2018...it will also mean Messenger will reintegrate with Facebook and appear in the top right portion of the app.
This is to emphasize “messaging-based sharing” of content appearing on the new feed. The two apps were originally separated in 2014 in order to make sending messages faster, as Mark Zuckerberg later claimed that same year. [excerpted from Gizmodo]
But you didn't come here for all that did you? So let's start talking about what it means when your Facebook ads get blocked and what to do about it.
What to do When Your Facebook Ads Are Blocked
You're looking at your Ads Manager, clicking on the notifications that one or more of your Facebook ads is blocked. You're convinced that you've done nothing wrong.
What should you do first?
Step 1: Mental Ninjutsu
Your first step is mental: tone down the pride and outrage that money isn't coming into your funnel anymore and you feel victimized. That ain't gonna solve anything.
In fact, thinking this way will blind you to some pretty obvious shit your Facebook ads are doing that is against policy.
Some of my clients have had forehead slap moments when I've audited their funnel saying, "Damn...I should have caught that...I can see how that's against the policies."
So, crazy as it seems your first real step is to step back from being so damn emotional about the ads getting shut down. Think about it logically. Ask yourself,
"If I was Facebook safeguarding Facebook users' experience, what would I shut down first about my ad?"
And if you want some help thinking like Facebook automations do, remember the analogy I made in my blog Common Facebook Ad Policy Violations [Explained]?
Facebook is like Ward from Leave it to Beaver. Despite outward progressive hip youthful PR, in reality, Facebook's view of ads echo 1950s conformism.
Older articles like this one only give a surface level understanding of the issue and advise you to delete your blocked Facebook ads.
Yes, but...
You don't want to delete your rejected Facebook ads in Ads Manager until you understand which part of your ads got you blocked in the first place!!!
Otherwise, you are just playing Russian Roulette. Spinning the barrel until a bullet hits the chamber. You don't want to rely on guessing for your ads strategy right?
As I wrote in Social Media Examiner, you want to at the least screenshot your disapproved Facebook ads before deleting them. That way if you work with someone like me, who has years experience working inside Facebook, I can help you get compliant.
I can't exactly do that if I can't see the history of the ads you have run and just how badly you've run afoul of the ad policies. Make sense?
How to Recover Blocked Facebook Ads
...And What NOT to do When Appealing Rejected Facebook Ads.
A lot of social media sites will say to you, if your Facebook ads are blocked or ad account is disabled, just create a new account.
Ok...but that's dumb af, really TBH if you never took time to determine exactly why your ads were rejected.
One website says:
"Whether your appeal has already been rejected or you’re still waiting for the response but need to get your ads running again, you might want to create a new ad account."
"If you aren’t allowed to create a new account with Business Manager, you might have a colleague or friend with a different Facebook user who doesn’t mind creating a Facebook ad account and providing you with admin permissions."
This is false advice because you're running on guesses here. Without a super specific answer on why your ads were shut down, that led to a disabled ad account, you are just going to get blocked again.
When I was working with Tony Robbins' marketing team, he benefited from my Facebook ad policy expertise. Want in? Schedule a free discovery call here.
Business Manager Tip:
ALSO - as I've blogged in Essential Facebook Ad Policies to Know [Ultimate Guide]:
Before you even put anyone on a WORKING Business Manager in the People section of the BM settings, make sure they don't have ads running elsewhere that could jeopardize your own.
That article also suggests that you appeal. I know everyone is click-happy these days but it isn't Amazon. It's Facebook.
Meta gets a bit butt hurt if you blindly ask for an appeal of a rejected ad or disabled ad account. As most come with the typical, "I don't know why I got shut down!" or "Just turn my ads on I've done nothing wrong!"
They respond a bit more positively if you are more informed of why you were shut down.
Unlike a video game, with endless replays, you don't have THAT many chances before Facebook will block your IP if you immediately try to circumvent their ad policies. It's straight:
Why You Shouldn't Just Create New Ad Accounts
So that website's advice to just create a new ad account after a lot of blocked Facebook ads?
That advice is pretty naive (sorry not sorry Adelina) because if you've had so many ads rejected that Facebook has disabled your ad account, just creating a new one will get you even more on the radar since you clearly don't know what policies you've been breaking so far.
***For real solid guidance on disabled ad accounts check out What to Do If Your Facebook Ad Account Gets Disabled – Everything You Need To Know [2022 Updated]***
Now Facebook / Meta is gonna say, "Wow, they had all these rejected ads. Every new ad continued to break our rules, but they have a new ad account now, running the same type of ads we already shut down?? Let's restrict their profile from advertising."
Do you see what a domino-effect this becomes now
What the Automations Scan
If your Facebook ads are getting rejected you need to audit your funnel and determine which part of it is triggering the automations to shut you down.
It could be:
○ Ad copy above the creative
○ The headline beneath the creative
○ Your landing page
○ The ad creative (static image | video)
○ Your privacy policy doesn't meet Meta's criteria
Or a lot of other things. But those are 5 good places to start really analyzing and looking closer.
You definitely don't recover blocked Facebook ads by using the auto-appeal button that simply sends your request to another machine or by chatting in.
The people at Facebook ad support - the majority - are outsourced to 3rd world countries. They have about a fast-food restaurant server intelligence when it comes to telling you anything useful about why your ads got blocked.
Often they'll give you advice that will get you in worse trouble with Facebook.
So you're on your own there (unless you wanted to work with me) because no one at Facebook can accurately audit your ads and tell you what went wrong, why, and how to get compliant.
I've worked with the engineers that wrote the automations that flag ads so I can help. (If you want to skip ahead, feel free to scroll to New Solutions section).
What NOT to do When Facebook Ads Are Blocked
One of the biggest mistakes I see advertisers make when their Facebook ads are rejected is to try to re-run the same Facebook ad again.
That's pretty idiotic. It's like getting a traffic ticket for running a red light. Then after the cop lets you go, running the next red light in front of you in rush hour traffic, while the cop is still driving behind you.
You think you're gonna get to work on time driving like that? Think again.
And yet, advertisers continue to run the same rejected ad because of the misinterpretation of how the automations flag ads.
Sure, if you submit the same ad again and again, you may get it approved. Because the automations made a mistake!!
Circumventing Systems Flag's Hidden Trigger
Yet more than one marketer makes the false association,
"Uhh well if it was approved that means the first ten times I submitted the ad, THAT was the mistake."
When really, the opposite was true: the approval was the mistake. Setting a false precedent for you now thinking an approved ad is randomly rejected rather than the truth - your FB ads were noncompliant from the start.
Except you're gonna get a SECOND flag now that you tried to run the same Facebook ad already rejected:
Do you understand how vital it is to audit your ads before running them again or trying to appeal?
Unless you get straight on what triggered the automations you are bringing a knife to a gun fight.
I've even seen some advertisers post YouTube videos with the wrong information for why you get flagged with circumventing systems like this video.
It says you won't get flagged for creating a new ad account after being shut down. [Buzzer Sound] Wrong.
No where in that video does she mention your rejected ads being resubmitted with the same violations in them triggering this flag.
You're now trying to figure out what to do when your ads are rejected, perhaps perusing the Facebook Business Help Center.
But everything is so generic. You've got to study the ad policies and ask yourself, "Does my ad sound spammy? Does it call out people too personally? Does it sound like an MLM?"
And then adjust the ad copy accordingly. THEN appeal to get your ads live again.
Now, you can't undo the FIRST ad rejection. But if you submit the ad for review again AFTER you've changed the ad copy and/or creative, and the landing page to BE compliant your chances will improve.
Because, essentially, now, Facebook says, "Ok, we rejected this ad before...let's take a second look. Oh, it looks compliant now. What about the landing page? Dang, it's ALL complaint, let's greenlight this ad for approval."
That's your best chance to getting your Facebook ads unblocked. Clean your funnel FIRST, and THEN submit the ads, editing to be compliant. If you don't know what got you flagged, I'm a Facebook ad policy specialist.
Facebook Blocked Ads Guide:
Here's a summary of what you've learned so far, for what to do when your Facebook ads are blocked:
New Solution to Facebook Disabled Ad Accounts
Tony Robbins, Harv Eker, Dean Graziosi
After years of working at Facebook, I understand exactly what ad copy in your funnel is triggering the automations and how to get compliant. I'm a Facebook ad policy specialist and can audit your funnel, and share what to say that Facebook wants to see instead - but just isn't telling you.
Want to book a call to talk to Facebook and get results? Get solid answers directly from the source instead guessing, googling and playing roulette? Book a Call with me and I can easily tell you proven reasons why the automations flag you and how to become compliant.
You'll be swapping out walking in a minefield of ad flags, to having a sure path to having your Facebook ad accounts protected from being disabled and won't have to worry that your facebook ad account got disabled.
Save energy and money - how much is it costing you to not know why Facebook is shutting you down?
My clients have included social media marketing agencies of Tony Robbins, Harv Eker and Dean Graziosi. I'm featured on the Queen of Facebook Mari Smith's Marketing Essentials Course.
I get hundreds of emails a week and don't work with most people. Try to book a discovery call and you'll have to wait a month.
If you want to skip the line before this offer ends, immediately secure an expert-level Facebook consulting call from someone at Facebook.
If you're ok with waiting a bit longer, and entering the waitlist to see if you're eligible - Schedule a call or contact me via email.
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