Facebook Updates It’s Policy Yet Again

Here is an email I received from my Facebook Account Rep:

Hello Facebook Advertiser,

I am writing to give you an update in advance of some changes you will see in our ad review process this week.

As part of our ongoing effort to connect users to content they’re interested in, we constantly work to show users the ads that are most relevant to them.  Ad quality and user feedback have always been important considerations for Facebook Ads, and help determine what ads are actually seen by users.  In general, ads that receive negative user feedback are less likely to be shown to users, and may not even run at all.

Users have given us negative feedback about deceptive recurring billing practices.  We’re taking those claims very seriously and are taking care not to accept ads that may feature such practices in the Facebook Ads system.  We’re also working to expose more information to advertisers about user feedback and the quality of their ads.

If you have questions about this or want specific feedback about how this may affect your campaigns, please let me know.  For your reference, I have included the updated Section 18 (below) of our Advertising Guidelines below which will tentatively be released on Wednesday 3/4/09.

You can find our current Ad Guidelines at: http://www.facebook.com/ad_guidelines.php

I look forward to working with you and continuing to assist in your marketing campaigns on Facebook!

// Update to Advertising Policy //

SECTION 18

Subscription Services

• The advertisement of Subscription Services must comply with the conditions noted below and as determined by Facebook in its sole discretion. “Subscription Services” may include sites that promote downloading ringtones, wallpaper, or text messages for predictions, love life advice, news, personality quizzes, or other entertainment services or any site that induces a user to sign up for recurring billing of a product or service.
  

• Subscription Services conditions:
  
  1. The promoted website clearly and accurately displays the pricing of the offer on the landing page of the website as well as on the page where a user opts into the offer.
  2. If your site requires users to submit personal information, your site must prominently display the price and billing interval (such as per week or once per month) on the page where users first enter personal information (such as a name or phone number).
  3. If users sign up to your service by transmitting a code by text message, the price and billing interval must be clearly and prominently displayed beside the code.
  4. If your service is a subscription, you must provide a prominent opt-in checkbox or other clear mechanism indicating that the user knowingly accepts the price and subscription service. This should be on the first page users enter personal data, and the user should not be able to proceed without opting in.
  5. All of the items above should be located in a prominent place on your webpage and should be easy to find, read, and understand.
     

// Update to Advertising Policy //

Ad Hustler