Some Common Words Will Get Your Facebook Ad Rejected Automatically
Facebook advertising policies comply with the Equal Opportunity Act and Fair Housing Act. The Department of Labor outlines:
“Applicants to and employees of most private employers, state and local governments, educational institutions, employment agencies and labor organizations are protected under Federal law from discrimination.”
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development simply states:
“It is illegal to discriminate in the sale or rental of housing, including against individuals seeking a mortgage or housing assistance, or in other housing-related activities.”
Small businesses advertising on Facebook for recruitment, credit, or in a housing-related field also need to follow these guidelines. It’s the law, and it’s important. You can’t use Facebook Ad Audiences to target specific demographics, but need to offer the opportunity to everyone.
Facebook allows advertisers to select a “Special Ad Category” in these instances that will comply with US law. Category options vary with the kind of “special ad” being created.
But how does Facebook know if your ad is for employment, credit or housing? The platform automates the process with artificial intelligence that is, arguably, not that smart.
These Words Trigger Facebook’s “Special Ad Category” AI
Even if you aren’t advertising in one of the special categories, your ad will still be rejected if you include any of the words flagged by Facebook’s AI. It’s possible to contest the rejection, but it’s really more trouble than it’s worth. In my experience, the appeals process is also automated, so you’ll be “communicating” with a bot that has very little ability to reason.
The best approach is to carefully select the words in your ad to be automatically approved. To avoid triggering the “Special Ad Category” algorithms, avoid using these words:
- Job
- Career
- Internship
- Certificate
- Hire
- Hiring
- Homeowner
- Renters
- Housing
- Loan
- Mortgage
- Refinance
- Appraisal
- Credit Card
Examples of Rejected Facebook Ads
This year, two of Zoo in a Jungle Marketing’s own Facebook ads have been rejected because I wasn’t careful enough in my wording. You’ll see that the blog posts linked to in the ads aren’t for employment, credit or housing, but they each used one of the trigger words.
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