This is a great move and one that will not only improve the user experience on the platform but also highlight the need for Facebook Advertising Experts. The only drawback is that the review process is human based, it’s also subjective. The same ad might be approved by one person but not approved by someone else. There’s not much you can do about it, however you can give feedback to Facebook if your ad has been labelled as low quality but you will have to design a new ad as currently there is no option to re-review.
Facebook stated:
"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."
This is how the ad review process works:
You may have experiences like…
“My ads have been in pending review now for over 24 hours”
“My ads been disapproved but there is nothing wrong with it!”
“Is Facebook stuck?”
Now Facebook’s ad review time can take anywhere from 5 minutes to 2 days. Once you create your ad it goes into a review queue where a team of Facebook employees will review it and then either approve or reject it.
I read from Ad Expresso’s data that they noticed faster review times when you publish your ads during the week between 15:00pm GMT – 03:00am GMT.
So what is a 'low quality' ad? Here are three examples provided by Facebook.
1. Engagement bait
Facebook: “Ads with spammy content asking people to engage with it in specific ways, such as requesting likes, comments and shares.”
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.
This is classed as an engagement baiting ad:
Once again marketers asking viewers to like a post is seen as negative because it’s not a true reflection of their experience with the content put in front of them and they are trying to negate the Newsfeed algorithm. Facebook wants to show its users the best, most engaging content and these types of posts are a way around that to get the algorithm to favour your content.
2. Clickbait
Facebook: “Ads that purposefully withhold information to entice people to click in order to understand the full context.”
We are all familiar and seen loads of articles where the marketer tries to grab your attention with a statement leaving you wanting more only to find the article was not interesting in the slightest.
Classic clickbait example:
This often results in loads of clicks, followed by angry comments of users who were duped into clicking and some people commenting with the facts about the story saying I saved you the time. Naturally Facebook does not want this sort of content on their platform and for the platform users this sort of content is extremely annoying and enough for some users to unfollow or even close down the app altogether.
3. Sensationalized language
Facebook: “Ads that use exaggerated headlines or command a reaction from people but don't deliver on the landing page.”
An example of a sensationalised Facebook ad:
Using words in your copy like ‘MIND-BLOWING’, ‘THE BEST’, ‘UNBELIEVABLE’ and you can’t back this up or lead your viewers to an article or page that that is AMAZING then you are misleading the audience.
Ultimately, if you are going to use ‘sensationalised language’ then expect Facebook to start disapproving your content. Stick to what Gary Vee preaches and just provide your audience with value. It’s as simple as that.
So what does Facebook mean when it says the above type of content will result in reduced distribution or be disapproved?
Well, simply put your ad will be disapproved. If you keep getting disapproved ads this may be flagged at Facebook internally and the worst of the worst could happen, your future ads will be effected reducing your reach and costing you more to reach your audience.
For details straight from the horse’s mouth, check out more here.
