Recently, it has become increasingly common to see users complaining in the publishers about the blocking of the advertising account in Facebook.
In this article, we will look at why Facebook can block an advertising account and how to restore it. We will also give recommendations on how to avoid being blocked.
Why Facebook can block an ad account
Facebook has several million ad accounts. Obviously, it is simply impossible to check all ads manually, so they are checked automatically by the system. The system either blocks the ad/account itself or sends it back to a live person for moderation. The social network algorithms take 3 things into account when running an ad (especially if you’re doing it for the first time):
The ad account (who it’s registered to, what payment system it’s recharged with, what country it’s from).
Ad (what’s in the image and in the text of the ad, what kind of product or service is being advertised).
Website or landing page (on what domain, whether the page matches the ad).
Any violation of these three elements can lead to the blocking of the account. The most unpleasant thing is that in addition to the official FB rules, there are also so-called “unspoken” rules, for violation of which you can also get a ban. We consider the main reasons for blocking an advertising account in Facebook:
Violations related to the account
1. Suspicious card activity.
If you decide to recharge with a card, be careful. FB will block the account at the slightest hint that your card has fallen into the hands of fraudsters.
What exactly could arouse suspicion and lead to a blocking:
- your name or surname on your card doesn’t match the data in the advertising account – even if the difference is just one
- character;
- You are trying to pay for an ad from another card, from a friend or partner’s card, for example;
- the card is issued in another country than your current location;
- You use a virtual card.
2. Logging into Ads Manager from an IP address in another country or city
This is a serious problem for those who travel, as Facebook may think you have been hacked. It’s a similar situation if you give access to your account to someone from another country/city. Try to run ads in the same country or use a VPN.
3. Choosing a different payment method
For some reason this is also suspicious for Facebook. For example, you deposited by card and then decided to use PayPal. It’s better to choose a convenient way to top up your ad balance right away and use it only.
4. A sudden increase in the advertising budget.
For example, you have just launched a new ad, you haven’t tested it yet, but you spend a big sum at once. The system may find this suspicious. No one knows the exact numbers, SMM-specialists advise not to spend more than 30 000 rubles a day. It is better to increase the budget gradually. Also, do not throw too large sums on the balance of the account in a single payment.
This is especially true for new accounts.
5. Login to Ads Manager from the Crimea.
American companies are not allowed to operate in the Crimea. If you live there or come on vacation – use VPN.
6. Presence of ads that once failed to pass moderation
Sometimes Facebook checks ads repeatedly. If among them are those that were once rejected by moderators, they will be rejected again, and the account may be blocked. To avoid this, it’s best to remove ads that have not been approved from your account right away.
7. Connecting an administrator with a bad history to your account
This refers to admins whose ad accounts have already been blocked. It is better to ask them to get a new account with a clean history and then connect them to your account. The main risk are the accounts of freelancers and advertising agencies, they are impossible to verify. Try to add as admins those whom you know personally and whom you trust.
8. Advertising is running on a newly created account.
It is necessary to wait 2-3 weeks before start of advertising. During this time you need to complete the account and behave like a normal user – post, like other people’s posts, add friends. This is because FB watches newly created accounts closely and blocks it if there is the slightest suspicion that the page is fake.
Violations of the ad
Ads that have not gone through moderation will not immediately lead to the blocking of the account. But if you have too many of them, then this will make the system suspect you of fraudulent behavior and block access to your account.
9. Advertising violates the law of the country
You should carefully study the laws of the country you run your ads in. For example, some countries do not allow the advertising of alcohol at all; others allow it but for the certain age category. In the example below, the account was blocked for the beer mug icon in the image. In 2 days after writing to tech support, the account was unblocked (+ example of a polite letter to the support team).
10. Advertising of prohibited goods
Here everything is clear – you can’t advertise weapons, drugs, explosives, online marketing, adult products, goods that violate copyrights, such as copies of brands. The full list of prohibited content is specified in Facebook rules.
11. Unethical advertising
No personal characteristics of users – appearance, nationality, religion, weight, age – may be touched upon. For example, ads asking, “Do you go to church on Sundays?” or “Are you over 40 and still single?” will be rejected. Too many rejected ads may result in blocking the entire account.
12.Misspelled text, oversized text, poor quality pictures
Ads with illiterate text, too many emoji, low-quality picture, huge text on half of picture are blocked by FB administration. Text should be no more than 20% of the entire ad. You can check the creativity for compliance with this rule with the tool from Facebook.
13. elements in the ad to motivate clicks on the ad
There should be nothing in the ad that directly or indirectly encourages the user to click on it. Including by accident. That is, no unnecessary arrows, fake buttons play video, direct appeals or non-existent elements. An example of such an ad is an ad for sneakers where the picture has an object that looks like a hair, which you want to shake off the screen. Users noticed this and asked for the ads to be blocked.
14. Misleading ads
This includes ads that promise unrealistic results (e.g., losing weight after 1 dose of magic tea) and ads whose essence is not clear – you have to click the link to understand what it’s about.
15. Complaints about ads
Any Facebook user can go to the menu of ads and click “Complain about the ads. There is probably nothing for 1 complaint, but systematic complaints can lead to blocking the entire account.
16. Shock subject matter
Advertisements should evoke positive associations with users, not put them in a state of shock or cause unpleasant feelings. Themes of death, blood, disease, physical disabilities should be avoided.
Violations related to the site or landing page
17. The site doesn’t match the ad
For example, you’re advertising clothing, but users are taken to a casino site. Or the ad says that users can download a free book, but the site asks them to pay for the file.
18. Redirect site.
The user clicks on the ad, gets to the site, and he starts getting redirected to other sites. This is forbidden by the rules of Facebook, and in general it is unethical.
19. Site with scripts.
You can not use landing pages with scripts, such as:
- script to automatically launch audio and video;
- automatic downloading of files to the user’s device;
- pop-ups that call for downloading something or subscribing to social networks to access content;
- ad popups that distract from the page content;
- popups that interfere with leaving the site, blocking the content, or not turning off the site.
20. Unlawful collection of personal data
You can’t, under the guise of protection against bots, force users to enter their phone number in order to download a file. If you collect data, such as email addresses for future newsletters, it should be clear from the text of the landing page. There should be a consent checkbox next to the subscription form to agree to the data collection. You can read the privacy requirements in the Facebook help.
21. Link to page in PDF or JPG format, domain problem
The ad should lead to an existing site, not a scan or PDF document. In the example below, the problem most likely arose because the user’s site shared the same IP with a rogue site.
In rare cases, ads are blocked by mistake and after talking to tech support they can be quickly restored.
How to unblock a Facebook ad account
Let’s figure out where, how and what to write to restore a blocked Facebook account.
First, you need to understand the reason for blocking the account. If you’re lucky, the Facebook administration itself will write about it in the promotional cabinet or an email message, for example:
But most often the account owner simply receives a notice of blocking. In that case, you need to look for the reason yourself – what from the list above could you have violated?
Next, you need to contact Facebook tech support. There are 3 ways to contact:
Account blocking form
The account blocking notification will have a phrase at the end with a link “If you think there has been some kind of error, contact us.” Click on “contact us” and it will take you to this form. Or you can save a link to it right away. Here you need to check the box that this is your account and state your view of the problem.
Form when an ad is blocked
You can appeal the blocking of a particular ad using this form. The form is useful in two cases – if your account has been blocked because of a specific ad, or if only the ad has been blocked, and you want to understand why.
When filling out this form, you will need the Facebook Ads Account ID, which can be found in the browser bar when you enter the Ads Manager. The ID consists of several digits and is after act=
You can wait days or even weeks for an answer.
Universal form
You can send an email or write to the technical support chat. They are available in the help center. It is better to write in English. This way it is more likely to get an answer in a short time.
This way of communication is not available to everyone, but only to some advertisers, who are not the first time they spend money on advertising, they will see the link above, the section with the chat. You can try a direct link to the chat room. The advantage is that the chat will help you faster, and there is Russian-speaking support.
You can also try writing to the Facebook for Business page.
What to do if all else fails?
If you have violated the rules in any way, such as advertising brand copy or using redirects on your site, there is a 90% chance that your account will not be allowed to recover.
If you haven’t had any major violations or if your account was blocked by mistake, just keep communicating with technical support until you get results.
What you certainly can not do in either of the first or second case, is to immediately create a second account. All the more so that you should not repeat actions that have already lead to blocking. Let’s say you’ve been running ads on a site with scripts and got your account banned. Then you created a new account, changed the ad, but it directs visitors to the same site. The system will track this and quickly block the second account.
Second example: Your payment card has expired, you haven’t attached a new one to your account, and your account has been temporarily blocked. There is a chance to restore it, but you don’t want to wait and create a new account. The administration of the social network will instantly block it, and the chances of restoring the first account will be equal to zero.
Important: do not write to tech support several times in a row. This will not speed up the consideration of your case. Moreover, there is a limit of 3 checks of the same account.
Conclusion: when an account is blocked, there are only 2 possible outcomes:
- You get your account reinstated and continue to advertise based on past mistakes.
- You get blocked permanently, and you can no longer work with advertising on this platform.
There is also a third option, if before the ban you were using Business Manager, which had several accounts – you can use another account from the list of connected. But the second account must have a positive history, another way to top up and no connection to the ads of the blocked account. If you compromise the second account, you can get your entire Business Manager account blocked. In this case, you will no longer be able to run ads in Facebook Ads Manager.
P.S. While contacting technical support you may be asked to send a personal photo or photo of documents – be prepared for this.
How not to get blocked
Instead of dancing with tambourine around the advertising account and letters to support, it’s better to stick to the rules and recommendations:
- Don’t run ads on a freshly created account, wait 2-3 weeks. During this time, set up a profile, make posts, add friends, and behave like a normal user.
- Choose a convenient way to add money to your account right away, and don’t change it.
- If you decided to pay by card, it has to be your card, and it has to have the same first name and Latin letters as your advertising account.
- If you are running ads from different countries, use VPN, to enter from the IP of one country, for example, Russia.
- Do not access the ad account in Crimea. Or use a VPN.
- Do not put a lot of money on the balance of the account at once, increase the advertising budget gradually.
- Do not give access to your account to strangers, especially to administrators with blocked accounts.
- Before making an ad, read all the rules carefully and try not to violate them.
- Immediately remove ads that have not been moderated.
- Do not use redirects, scripts, padding sites, pages that do not match the ad.
Conclusion
When an ad account in Facebook is blocked, there is a chance to restore it, if you have not committed gross violations. But it is better to comply with all the rules of the social network and not at all lead to the blocking.