Facebook Implements New Restrictions on ‘Low Quality’ Ads

Facebook has announced a new set of restrictions, and increased penalties, for brands that publish ‘low quality’ ads on its platform.

As explained by Facebook:

“Low-quality ads on Facebook, such as ones that include clickbait or direct people to unexpected content, create bad experiences for people and don’t align with our goal of creating meaningful connections between people and businesses. We are now going further in our efforts to limit low-quality ads on our platforms by disapproving more of them and reducing distribution for more ads in our auction.”

Facebook has provided three specific examples

1. Engagement bait

These are your typical ‘like and share’ posts, re-purposed as ads. Facebook has specific rules against using such methods in contests, but they also don’t like them in promotions.

2. Withholding information

Facebook also dislikes ads which lure clicks by alluding to the full detail of the post without being clear on what that detail actually is.

3. Sensationalized language

And the last Facebook ad approach in the firing line is ‘ads which use exaggerated headlines or command a reaction from people but don’t deliver on the landing page’.

Facebook will now be actively enforcing these measures more stringently, and will be imposing penalties for violations.

What are the potential penalties?

• Individual ads with low-quality attributes will see reduced distribution in our ad auction, or will be disapproved. This applies to all advertisers, but since we tend to see more of these characteristics in ads related to media, entertainment, politics or issues of national importance, they may be impacted more.
• Multiple ads flagged with low-quality attributes may impact the performance of all ads from that advertiser.

So, your ads are going to get less reach, which intimately means higher costs for performance. In essence, if you’re running a Facebook ad campaign, its best to be upfront about your products and services, and avoid the sensationalized clickbait and spammy approaches.