Date of last revision: April 15, 2015

Facebook Advertising Policies

Sections:
  1. Things you should know
  2. Prohibited content
  3. Restricted content
  4. Targeting
  5. Positioning
  6. Text in images
  7. Use of the Facebook brand
  8. Data use restrictions

1. Things you should know

  1. The Advertising Policies, as well as our Data Policy and Statement of Rights and Responsibilities, apply to(1) all ads and commercial content served by Facebook on or off the Facebook services, including ads purchased under AAAA/IAB Standard Terms and Conditions, and (2) ads appearing within Apps on Facebook. You may be subject to additional terms or guidelines if you use certain Facebook advertising- related products or services.
  2. Advertisers are responsible for understanding and complying with all applicable laws and regulations. Failure to comply with these policies may result in a variety of consequences, including the cancellation of ads you have placed and the termination of your account.
  3. We do not use sensitive personal data for ad targeting. Topics you choose for targeting your ad don't reflect the personal beliefs, characteristics or values of users.
  4. If you are managing ads on behalf of other advertisers, each advertiser or client must be managed through separate ad accounts. You must not change the advertiser or client associated with an established ad account; set up a new account.
  5. We reserve the right to reject, approve or remove any ad for any reason, in our sole discretion, including ads that negatively affect our relationship with our users or that promote content, services, or activities, contrary to our competitive position, interests, or advertising philosophy.
  6. These policies are subject to change at any time without notice.

2. Prohibited content

  1. Ads must not constitute, facilitate, or promote illegal products, services or activities. Ads targeted to minors must not promote products, services, or content that is inappropriate, illegal, or unsafe, or that exploits, misleads, or exerts undue pressure on the age groups targeted.
  2. Ads must not promote the sale or use of the following:
    1. Illegal, prescription, or recreational drugs;
    2. Tobacco products and related paraphernalia;
    3. Unsafe supplements, as determined by Facebook in its sole discretion;
    4. Weapons, ammunition, or explosives; or
    5. Adult products or services (except for ads for family planning and contraception)
  3. Ads must not violate our Community Standards. Additionally, ads must not contain any of the following:
    1. Content that infringes upon or violates the rights of any third party, including copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity, or other personal or proprietary rights.
    2. Adult content. This includes nudity, depictions of people in explicit or suggestive positions, or activities that are overly suggestive or sexually provocative.
    3. Shocking, sensational, disrespectful, or excessively violent content.
    4. Content that asserts or implies personal attributes. This includes direct or indirect assertions or implications about a person’s race, ethnic origin, religion, beliefs, age, sexual orientation or practices, gender identity, disability, medical condition (including physical or mental health), financial status, membership in a trade union, criminal record, or name.
    5. Deceptive, false, or misleading content, including deceptive claims, offers, or business practices.
    6. Content that exploits controversial political or social issues for commercial purposes.
    7. Audio or flash animation that plays automatically without a user's interaction or expands within Facebook after someone clicks on the ad.
    8. Non-functional landing pages. This includes landing pages that interfere with a person’s ability to navigate away from the page.
    9. Spyware, malware, or any software that results in an unexpected or deceptive experience. This includes links to sites containing these products.
    10. Bad grammar or punctuation. Symbols, numbers, and letters must be used properly.
    11. Images that portray nonexistent functionality.
    12. Images that contain “before and after” images or images of unexpected or unlikely results.

3. Restricted content

  1. Alcohol: Ads that promote or reference alcohol must: (i) Comply with all applicable local laws, required or established industry codes, guidelines, licenses and approvals and (ii) apply age and country targeting criteria consistent with Facebook's targeting guidelines and applicable local laws. Note that Ads that promote or reference alcohol are prohibited in the some countries, including but not limited to: Afghanistan, Brunei, Bangladesh, Egypt, Gambia, Kuwait, Libya, Norway, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, or Yemen.
  2. Dating: Ads for online dating services are only allowed with prior authorization from Facebook. These must adhere to the dating targeting requirements and our dating quality guidelines.
  3. Online real money gambling/games of skill: Ads that promote or facilitate online real money gambling, real money games of skill or real money lotteries, including online real money casino, sports books, bingo, or poker, are only allowed in specific countries with prior authorization from Facebook.
  4. State lotteries: Lotteries run by government entities may advertise on Facebook, provided the ads are targeted in accordance with applicable law in the jurisdiction in which the ads will be served and may only target users in the jurisdiction in which the lottery is available.
  5. Online pharmacies: Ads for online and offline pharmacies are only permitted with prior approval from Facebook.
  6. Supplements: Ads that promote acceptable dietary and herbal supplements must target users at least 18 of age.
  7. Subscription services: Ads for subscription services, or that promote products or services that include negative options, automatic renewal, free-to-pay conversion billing products, or mobile marketing are subject to our subscription services requirements found here.

4. Targeting

  1. You must not use targeting options to discriminate against, provoke, or disparage users or engage in predatory advertising practices.
  2. If you target your ads to custom audiences, you must comply with the applicable terms when creating that audience.

5. Positioning

  1. Relevancy: All components of an ad, including any text, images, or other media, must be relevant and appropriate to the product or service being offered and the audience viewing the ad.
  2. Accuracy: Ads must clearly represent the company, product, service, or brand that is being advertised.
  3. Landing pages: Products and services promoted in the ad copy must match those promoted on the landing page, and the destination site may not offer or link to any prohibited product or service.

6. Text in images

  1. Ads must not include added or excessive text that comprises more than 20% of the image.
  2. Ads may include text that is part of your product. Learn more here.

7. Use of the Facebook brand

  1. Ads must not imply a Facebook endorsement or partnership of any kind.
  2. Ads linking to Facebook branded content (including Pages, groups, events, or Connect sites) may make limited reference to "Facebook" in ad text for the purpose of clarifying the destination of the ad.
  3. All other ads and landing pages must not use our copyrights or trademarks (including but not limited to Facebook, the Facebook and F Logos, FB, Face, and Book) or any confusingly similar marks, except as expressly permitted by our Brand Usage Guidelines or with our prior written permission.

8. Data Protection

  1. Ensure any ad data collected, received or derived from your Facebook ad (“Facebook advertising data”) isn’t shared with anyone not acting on your behalf, such as your service provider. You are responsible for ensuring your service providers protect any information you obtained from us, limit their use of that information, and keep it confidential.
  2. Don’t use Facebook advertising data for any purpose (including retargeting, commingling data across multiple advertisers’ campaigns, or allowing piggybacking or redirecting with tags), except on an aggregate and anonymous basis (unless authorized by Facebook) to assess the performance and effectiveness of your Facebook advertising campaigns.
  3. Don’t use Facebook advertising data, including the targeting criteria for a Facebook ad, to build or augment user profiles, including profiles associated with any mobile device identifier or other unique identifier that identifies any particular user, browser, computer or device.
  4. Don't transfer any Facebook advertising data (including anonymous, aggregate, or derived data) to any ad network, ad exchange, data broker or other advertising or monetization related service.