Having your ad rejected or not approved can be frustrating. There are a few key reasons why this may happen and things you can try to get your ad approved.
Common Ad Rejection Reasons
Here are some of the most common reasons an ad may get rejected or not approved:
- Violates policy – Your ad goes against one of the ad platform’s policies. This could be related to restricted products/services, intellectual property issues, offensive/controversial content, etc.
- Misleading claims – Your ad makes misleading, exaggerated or false claims. All claims need to be substantiated.
- Poor ad quality – Issues like grammar mistakes, low-quality images, insufficient description, etc. can lead to rejection.
- Irrelevant keywords – Your ad targets keywords irrelevant to your product, service or website content.
- Unacceptable landing page – Your landing page provides a poor user experience or doesn’t match the product/service advertised.
- Spammy ad text – Your ad copy appears spammy, uses all caps, too many exclamation points, repeated words, etc.
So in summary, the main reasons come down to policy violations, misleading or unacceptable ad content, and landing pages that don’t align with your ad. Understanding these reasons can help you avoid making the same mistakes again.
Tips to Get Your Ad Approved
Here are some tips to improve your chances of successfully getting your ad approved:
- Review policies – Read through the latest ad policies and guidelines, pay extra attention to restricted products and claims.
- Avoid hype – Don’t use exaggerated superlatives like “best”, “highest converting”, etc. that you can’t substantiate.
- Proofread – Check for typos, grammar errors and formatting issues. These make your ad appear sloppy.
- Relevant keywords – Make sure your ad targets keywords relevant to your actual product/service offering.
- Write quality copy – Take time to write compelling, interesting copy that engages users.
- Use high-res images – Use images at least 72 dpi. Low quality images get rejected.
- Send traffic to a related landing page – Make sure your landing page matches the product/offer in your ad copy.
- Optimize landing page – Your landing page should load fast and provide an excellent user experience.
Paying attention to these areas will significantly improve the chances your ad makes it through review. Also, if your ad gets rejected, thoroughly review the stated reason and learn from it.
What to Do if Your Ad Is Rejected
If you receive an ad rejection notice, here are some next steps to take:
- Review the exact rejection reason provided by the ad platform.
- Check if you can edit your ad to resolve the stated issue while still keeping your core message.
- If edits won’t resolve it, consider creating a brand new ad from scratch.
- Double check for any policy violations that may have caused the rejection.
- If needed, request a manual review or appeal the decision if you believe the rejection was made in error.
It can also help to seek outside input through ad testing tools or independent consultants. A fresh set of eyes may identify issues you overlooked.
Common Ad Platform Policies
To avoid rejections, it’s crucial to understand some key ad platform policies. Here are some examples:
Google Ads
- No profanity, violence, hate speech, or adult content
- No dangerous products, drugs, or unapproved pharmaceuticals
- No copyright-infringing content
- Accurate ad text with substantiated claims
- Ads must match website content
- Proper trademark usage
Facebook Ads
- No misleading, false, or sensationalized claims
- No adult, discriminatory, or illegal content
- Proper use of Facebook branding and images
- Ad aligns with landing page product/service
- Follow intellectual property rules
This overview gives you an idea of key areas to avoid. Thoroughly study the specific platforms where you want to advertise.
Should You Use an Ad Agency?
If your ads keep getting rejected and you’re not sure why, it may be worth hiring an ad agency to help. Some benefits of using an agency include:
- Expert knowledge of the latest ad policies and trends
- Experience crafting compliant, engaging ad creative
- Insights from previously resolved client ad rejections
- Testing across different platforms to see what sticks
An agency has the time and staff resources to methodically diagnose why your ads are getting rejected. They can audit your ad accounts, research policy changes, speak with platform reps, and take over the entire process until your ads start getting approved.
Depending on your budget, it may be worth the investment to break through rejection issues. You also gain peace of mind knowing ad experts handle it instead of wasting more of your own time.
Should You Edit or Start Over?
When trying to fix a rejected ad, you’ll need to decide between editing your existing ad or starting completely fresh. Here are some factors to consider:
| Edit Existing Ad | Start Fresh |
|---|---|
| – Faster option if changes are minor | – Better for major flaws in current ad |
| – Preserves any high-performing elements | – Opportunity for completely new angles |
| – Can quickly test by tweaking small things | – Removes any negative associations |
In general, if your rejection was for minor or fixable issues, editing may be the faster path. But if your ad has multiple intractable issues, it likely makes sense to start from scratch.
Conclusion
Having an ad rejected can be frustrating, but is often a fixable issue. By reviewing the specific rejection reason, studying ad policies, fixing your ad content, and ensuring your landing page matches, you can usually resolve the problem. However, if you are still facing rejections after multiple tries, bringing on an ad agency may be the key to finally getting your ad approved.