Facebook is receiving a lot of attention because it has banned advertising for cryptocurrency-related services. Officially, the ban is worded like this: “Ads must not promote financial products and services that are frequently associated with misleading or deceptive promotional practices, such as binary options, initial coin offerings, or cryptocurrency.” (For the record, we think such a ban is a good policy when there are ads encouraging people to cash-out their IRAs to invest in Bitcoin.) While banning cryptocurrency ads may be getting the publicity today, Facebook has banned lots of products and services from advertising on its platform.
Facebook Advertising Policies | Click here
Below is a list of some (but not all} products and services that are banned by Facebook. Those that are “conditional” have certain prohibitions that are included in the description. NOTE: Facebook changes these policies whenever it wants to, so refer to Facebook’s guidelines for the most current policies.
Illegal Products or Services
Ads must not constitute, facilitate, or promote illegal products, services or activities. Ads targeted to minors must not promote products, services, or content that are inappropriate, illegal, or unsafe, or that exploit, mislead or exert undue pressure on the age groups targeted.
Tobacco Products
Ads must not promote the sale or use of tobacco products and related paraphernalia.
Drugs & Drug-Related Products
Ads must not promote the sale or use of illegal, prescription, or recreational drugs.
Unsafe Supplements
Ads must not promote the sale or use of unsafe supplements, as determined by Facebook in its sole discretion.
Weapons, Ammunition, or Explosives
Ads must not promote the sale or use of weapons, ammunition, or explosives.
Surveillance Equipment
Ads may not promote the sale of spy cams, mobile phone trackers or other hidden surveillance equipment.
Payday or Cash Advance Loans
Ads must not promote payday loans, paycheck advances or any other short-term loan intended to cover someone’s expenses until their next payday.
Penny Auctions
Ads may not promote penny auctions, bidding fee auctions or other similar business models.
Counterfeit Documents
Ads may not promote fake documents, such as counterfeit degrees, passports or immigration papers.
Multilevel Marketing
(Conditional)
Ads promoting income opportunities must fully describe the associated product or business model, and must not promote business models offering quick compensation for little investment, including multilevel marketing opportunities.
Alcohol
(Conditional)
Ads that promote or reference alcohol must comply with all applicable local laws, required or established industry codes, guidelines, licenses and approvals, and include age and country targeting criteria consistent with Facebook’s targeting guidelines and applicable local laws. Note that ads promoting or referencing alcohol are prohibited in some countries, including but not limited to: Afghanistan, Brunei, Bangladesh, Egypt, Gambia, Kuwait, Libya, Lithuania, Norway, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, United
Adult Products or Services
(Only family planning and Contraception) (Conditional)
Ads must not promote the sale or use of adult products or services, except for ads for family planning and contraception. Ads for contraceptives must focus on the contraceptive features of the product, and not on sexual pleasure or sexual enhancement, and must be targeted to people 18 years or older.
Dating
(Conditional)
Ads for online dating services are only allowed with prior written permission.
Real Money Gambling
(Conditional)
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 with prior written permission. Authorized gambling, games of skill or lottery ads must target people 18 years or older who are in jurisdictions for which permission has been granted.
State Lotteries
(Conditional)
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 only target people in the jurisdiction in which the lottery is available.
Online Pharmacies
(Conditional)
Ads must not promote the sale of prescription pharmaceuticals. Ads for online and offline pharmacies are only permitted with prior written permission.
Supplements
(Conditional)
Ads that promote acceptable dietary and herbal supplements may only target people who are at least 18 years of age.
Subscription Services
(Conditional)
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.
Financial Services
(Conditional)
Ads promoting credit card applications or financial services with accredited institutions must clearly provide sufficient disclosure regarding associated fees, including APR percentages transaction fees, within the ad’s landing page. Ads promoting loans or insurance services must not directly request the input of a person’s financial information, including credit card information.
Student Loan Services
(Conditional)
Ads promoting student loan services must be targeted to people 18 years or older. Ads must not promote misleading or deceptive services related to student loan consolidation, forgiveness, or refinancing.
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