Facebook seems to be getting strict about its advertising policies and has applied some new rules to avoid political advertising on its platform. Fb recently revealed about blocking Walmart and Procter & Gamble ads because they included political notes but were lacking a “paid for by” label.
“After the ad started running, we determined that the ad had political content and required the label, “The ad was taken down,” Facebook said about the Walmart ad. Non-political ads usually run with only a “sponsored” label and Walmart’s advert appeared to have crossed the rules by using political speech, as a result of it has was taken down. “Bringing jobs again” to America the ad read.
Walmart hasn’t replied to this statement as a consultant for Facebook could not instantly be reached.
The P&G advertisement was an LGBTQ satisfaction advert and a “dedication to inclusion.” Facebook said. P&G spokeswoman Tressie Rose replied, “This is not a political ad, We’re disappointed by the decision and working with Facebook to understand how to navigate their new policy.”
Facebook is very careful about such ads and is not ignoring any creatives related politics. The company has started to disclose the source of every ad on the platform making it possible to see what ads brands are running to get the attention of users.
The new policies have raised concerns among publishers and media companies that pay to promote their headlines on Facebook. Several are arguing that the labeling will Facebook users confuse their journalism with advocacy. On the other hand, Facebook has discovered some groups which were creating fake profiles and generating fake information to influence U.S. voters and they used ads to reach larger audiences.
Facebook’s COO, Sheryl Sandberg discussed the new policies and said that some advertisers have been struck by delays due to new compliance protocols and she acknowledged that not every ad Facebook treats as political will necessarily be a clear-cut attempt to influence voters.
“We’re not saying all these things are political,” Sandberg said. “We just chose to be as inclusive as possible so everything will be transparent.”
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