Trying to get a single ad approved on Facebook took me almost two weeks

I had this campaign ready to go for a local bakery, simple image with text. The ad got flagged for 'social issues' which made zero sense. I spent days going back and forth with their support, just getting copy-paste replies. I finally got a real person on a chat after six attempts, and they said the AI saw the word 'fresh' next to 'family' and thought it was about politics. I had to rewrite the entire copy from scratch, remove half the keywords, and submit it as a completely new ad. The whole process took 12 days from first submission to final approval. Has anyone else had a simple ad get stuck in review hell for a reason that was totally off base?

3 comments

3 Comments

karen_roberts47d ago

My cousin runs a small flower shop and her ad got flagged for "adult content" because the photo had red roses. The review took eight days and they never gave a clear reason. She ended up using a picture of yellow daisies instead and it went right through. Their whole system seems to run on random word matches that make no sense. It's a huge waste of time for small businesses just trying to reach their own town.

hayden1446d ago

My buddy who fixes bikes had an ad for tire repairs flagged as "dangerous goods." The system saw the word "tube" and maybe linked it to something else. He had to change it to "inner circle repair" which sounds silly but it finally went live after five days. These filters just scan for words without any real sense behind them. It feels like small shops are always jumping through hoops for no good reason.

jana_scott5d ago

My friend who sells honey had her listing removed for "drug references" because it said raw and unfiltered. The platform thought it was about something else entirely. She had to list it as "pure honey, not heated" and it took almost a week to get approved. Just a total mess over simple words.