Facebook Bans More Types of Ads in Response to COVID-19

Facebook is banning more types ads for products people need to stay safe and prevent the spread of COVID-19.

This includes ads for:

  • Hand sanitizer
  • Surface disinfecting wipes
  • COVID-19 testing kids.

Previously, Facebook had already banned ads for medical face masks.

“This is anther step to protect against inflated prices and predatory behavior we’re seeing,” says Facebook’s Rob Leathern.

In addition, if Facebook detects abuse around these products in organic posts, that content will be removed too.

Facebook is relying on automated ad review, which may cause delays

Facebook will be ramping up automated enforcement for ads and commerce starting next week. The company has sent home all contract workers performing content review, including those who review ads and monetized content.

For advertisers, that means a few things:

  • Delayed review for ads and commerce listings
  • An increase in ads being incorrectly disapproved
  • Delayed responses to appeals
  • Limited availability of Facebook in-stream ads

For the time being, it’s recommended that advertisers extend the delivery of existing ads rather than creating new ads. This will help ensure there are no disruptions.

It’s better to leave ads running as-is, if possible, because editing an ad will cause a new review to occur. Changing the budget or the start/end for an existing ad will not trigger a new ad review.

Disruptions to content monetization

Content creators and publishers can expect some disruption to monetization for Instant Articles content, as well as videos with in-stream ads.

“Since our ability to review new content is now limited, we won’t be able to approve all content for monetization. We’re working on how to support partners at this time.”

Source: Facebook Newsroom

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