Meta's policies are inconsistently enforced but consistently enforced-against. Contractors get ad rejections + account flags for things they didn't know were violations. Here's the compliance cheat sheet.
The 7 Most Common Rejection Reasons
1. Personal Attribute Violations
Meta doesn't let you imply you know something about the user personally. 'Are YOU tired of high electric bills?' might get flagged. 'Tired of high electric bills?' (without the 'you') usually passes.
2. Before/After Without Context
'Before/after' photos are fine, but health/cosmetic transformation framing (weight loss, skin, etc.) is off-limits even if you're showing a home improvement. Keep 'before/after' framing firmly home-service oriented.
3. Urgency + Fear Language
'Act now or regret it' types of language can trigger the misleading-advertising flag. Urgency is fine ('limited April inspections') — fear-mongering isn't ('your house will flood if you don't act').
4. Exaggerated Savings Claims
'Save thousands!' without substantiation can be flagged. Better: 'Clients typically save $X-$Y on roofing insurance claims' — more specific, less exaggerated-sounding.
5. Unverified Trust Signals
Saying 'licensed + insured' is fine. Saying '#1 rated roofer in [state]' without substantiation gets flagged. Accurate superlatives ('A+ BBB rating') are safe; puffery isn't.
6. Discriminatory Targeting
Meta restricts targeting by age/gender/ZIP for ads about housing (which can include home services in some interpretations). Run service-area targeting at the metro/city level, not individual ZIPs when you can.
7. Landing Page Discrepancies
If your ad says '$49 tune-up' but the LP says '$149 tune-up,' that's a misleading-advertising violation. Pricing on ad must match LP exactly.
The Unofficial Rules Nobody Tells You
- Don't run the same exact ad from multiple Business Managers (triggers duplicate-ad-account flag)
- Don't change primary Pixel 3+ times in a month (looks suspicious to Meta's fraud system)
- Don't run ads with competitor names in copy (trademark violation flag)
- Avoid the phrase 'money-back guarantee' without substantiation (can trigger misleading-claims flag)
- Never use numbered comparisons like 'beat Competitor X by 30%' — direct attacks get flagged
When You Get Flagged
- Step 1: Review the specific policy cited. Meta's notification usually links to the section.
- Step 2: Fix the specific issue. Don't resubmit identical creative.
- Step 3: Appeal if you believe it was wrong. Meta does reverse some rejections, especially at the human-review level.
- Step 4: Don't submit 5+ times in a day. Pattern-repetition flags your account further.