9 Things Most Facebook Advertisers Don't Know But Need To

90+% of FB advertisers have never even looked at FB’s ad terms.

Here are 9 things most advertisers don't know and how to interpret them

#7 will surprise you!

1. “We may reject or remove any ad for any reason.”

Few advertisers understand this.

You're playing by FB's rules annnnd they can change the rules on you if they want.

My tip is to not just comply with their rules, but it’s important to understand that their rules are there to create a better experience for their users.

If your ads follow all the rules but make users feel bad or want to leave the app, they might reject that or worse…

2. “Failure to comply may result in a variety of consequences, including the cancellation of ads you have placed and termination of your account.” 

Basically: fuck around and find out. 

Way too many advertisers have found out the hard way.

 Comply or... 

3. “We will determine the size, placement, and positioning of your ads.”

Technically advertisers can edit settings for this, but they’re saying that they control how/where ads will be displayed.

You see this when 9x16 vertical videos are cropped weirdly for certain placements.

4. “You understand that, from time to time, we run tests on our Self-Serve Ad Interfaces and related systems, which may impact your use and experience thereof, including campaign performance....

"You acknowledge and agree that we may test as notified in these Terms, including to assess formatting, relevance, pricing, reporting, targeting, and delivery.”

They're basically saying "we're going to make changes without telling you and you advertisers just have to deal with it."

This makes sense as to why they make changes willy-nilly without consulting with us. They know they have the right to do whatever they want.

5. “Scheduling of delivery is subject to availability and may not be continuous.”

Nothing to worry about here, but a good reminder: ads will deliver more or less during different times of day or days of the week. 

This is totally normal and you shouldn't try to fight it.

6. “We do not guarantee the reach or performance that your ads will receive, such as the number of people who will see your ads or the number of clicks your ads will get.”

This shouldn't be a surprise to anyone.

Performance isn't guaranteed and you shouldn't expect metrics like clicks or reach to remain consistent.

7. “We can't control how clicks are generated on ads. We have systems that attempt to detect & filter certain click activity, but we aren't responsible for click fraud, technological issues, or other potentially invalid click activity that may affect the cost of running ads.”

They refuse to accept any responsibility for any fraudulent (bot) clicks or technical issues.

They also admit/confirm they're *barely* doing anything to prevent these issues and they're not incentivized to do so.

Fraudulent/bot clicks make FB money, so why stop em?

Btw, did you know that a click conversion counts after any click on an ad, not just a link click?

8. "If you are placing ads on someone else's behalf, you must have permission to place those ads, and agree as follows:"

8a. "If the advertiser you represent violates these Self-Serve Ad Terms, the Terms of Service, or the Commercial Terms, we may hold you responsible for that violation."

Be careful with what you advertise for your clients, it could get you in trouble.

8b. "You agree that we may provide campaign reporting information to the end advertiser for whom you placed a campaign."

If you’re running ads for a business and not showing the results to your client (perhaps arbitraging), FB has the right to share the raw results with them.

 This also means that FB can review the reporting with the client and have different perspectives about performance than you (which can make you look bad).

9. “By placing an Order, you authorize us to obtain your personal and/or business credit report from a credit bureau, either when you place an Order or at any time thereafter.”

I don’t know much about this one.

I wonder if this has impacted advertisers credit scores, or if the findings of a credit report have caused FB to set spend limits, disable an ad account, or ban someone.

BONUS: 10. “It's against the Facebook Community Standards to maintain more than one personal account.”

Over 30% of responses to my poll admitted they disobeyed FB and have 2 or more FB accounts here.

This is an easy and common mistake that can lead to major account shutdowns and banning.

If a "guru" or course tells you to have an extra FB profile as a backup, this is bad advice and probably comes from someone who has broken rules and been banned from FB before.‍

‍Note: None of this is new!

FB’s terms are slightly updating in January 2023, but the current terms have been in place since June 2021. 

This is all based on the updated terms that can be found here. 

That’s it for now!