Every PPC platform has a set of advertiser policies/guidelines. These documents lay out what content is allowed, which is allowed on a limited basis and which content is prohibited. You will also find banned practices along with editorial guidelines.
These policies are constantly being revisited and revised according to current legal situations, etc. but if you’re an affected advertiser it can be a real pain in the neck.
Getting Banned
This happens in one of two ways. First, if you repeatedly violate the advertiser policies your account will get banned and you can no longer use the platform. There are ways to appeal, but I’ve found them very arduous and usually more difficult than just starting over.
The second method isn’t so much that you’re banned, it’s that the advertiser policy changed in such a way that your product/service went from being allowed to being prohibited. I personally encountered one such example for an advertiser who was using AdWords to promote HCG diet products. One day AdWords was fine with them and the next day the account was effectively disabled because we couldn’t send any PPC traffic to a page that promoted or talked about the HCG diet. It was a major buzzkill.
Staying On The Right Side Of The Law
To help all of you stay on the right side of the law I’ve put together this quick reference guide of the official advertising policies of the major PPC platforms:
- AdWords – https://support.google.com/adwordspolicy/answer/6008942?hl=en
- BingAds – http://advertise.bingads.microsoft.com/en-us/bing-ads-policies
- Twitter Ads – https://support.twitter.com/articles/20169693-twitter-ads-policies (update log here – https://support.twitter.com/articles/20170764-twitter-ads-policy-update-log)
- LinkedIn Ads – https://www.linkedin.com/legal/pop/pop-sas-guidelines
- Facebook Ads – https://www.facebook.com/policies/ads/
- Pinterest – https://about.pinterest.com/en/advertising-rules
- Yahoo Gemini – Good luck, it’s one of these – https://policies.yahoo.com/us/en/yahoo/terms/advertising/index.htm
And remember that while you may be able to get something approved doesn’t necessarily mean the hammer won’t fall eventually. My advice it better safe than sorry because nobody wants a channel suddenly taken away from them.
