What Facebook’s Self-serve Advertising Terms Mean in 2023

Meta recently updated their self-serve ad terms, and there are a few key points that might affect the way you currently market your brand (or your clients’ brands) across platforms like Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram.

Paid ad marketers know how much a change in a platform’s advertising policies can impact their work. When the latest change—made active on January 3, 2023—was announced, it was met by a lot of concern. And while that concern might be warranted for some points, many others seem to simply reinforce terms that already existed.

In this article, we’ll be going over a few key points of Facebook’s latest self-serve advertising terms to see how they affect brands in 2023.

Self-serve Advertising in a Nutshell

Self-serve advertising campaigns are those set up entirely by the buyer without them having to go through a publisher or third-party seller. Buyers can simply set up their own campaigns, define criteria, gain approval, and wait for their ads to reach the right people.

When used wisely, self-serve advertising is a fantastic way to reach your target audience. A close familiarity with what your ideal customer wants and needs will ensure your ad budget goes to good use.

The primary downside of advertising on social media platforms is that you are susceptible to the way they run their network. Keeping up with the latest policy updates and tuning your strategy accordingly will make sure the brands you manage continue to fetch impressive results.

6 Noteworthy Changes in the Latest Policy Update

Meta’s previous self-serve advertising terms were in effect for a year and a half, so it’s high time for an update. The changes, however, were met by a lot of concern from marketers and paid ad specialists.

Here are some of the latest update’s highlights worth your consideration:

Meta can obtain buyers’ personal and/or business credit reports

Meta is cracking down on defaulting media buyers in more than one way. Point 4c of the ad terms states that the company is able to obtain personal and/or business credit reports when or after an Order is placed. Pair that with their classification of invoiced and non-invoiced clients as well as their 1% interest rate for past due amounts, and it’s clear that Meta is trying to encourage prompt payment.

What this means for you: This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. As long as you keep up with any ad account payments, these terms should not greatly affect you.

Meta does not guarantee that an ad reaches its intended audience

Point 1 of Meta’s ad terms release them from the guarantee that your ad reaches its intended audience. This raised some eyebrows from marketers—after all, isn’t the entire point of specifying audience criteria to ensure it reaches the right people?

When we consider the relatively recent Meta Advantage automation ad suite, however, this point might be a bit more clear. Meta is using machine learning to identify opportunities for your campaigns to grow in scale and effectivity. Their Lookalike and Detailed Targeting expansion products are created to find better performance opportunities outside of your defined audience, which could help you develop a better strategy in the long run.

What this means for you: Machine learning can benefit your brand by identifying opportunities outside of your defined audience. This update is not a bad one—just one to note.

Testing might affect campaign results

Point 5 of Meta’s ad terms informs media buyers that tests may affect their campaign performance. They also elaborate to say testing covers items such as formatting, relevance, pricing, reporting, targeting, and delivery.

Most ad marketers have experienced running campaigns that seemed to dip in performance without any attributable reason. What you can typically expect is a recovery as Meta learns what appeals to their users the most. These dips are typically short-term and expected from a company constantly improving their ad platform.

What this means for you: A temporary dip in performance with no attributable reason is probably nothing to be concerned about. If it is lasting, however, you might need to revisit your campaign or criteria.

Meta can reject/remove ads for any reason

Point 3 is possibly the most eyebrow-raising highlight of the latest policy update. Meta claims the authority to reject or remove ads for any reason. And while there is a strong argument for removal of some campaigns, the lack of detail makes it rather difficult to understand.

Ads that don’t comply with applicable laws, regulations, and guidelines certainly are not allowed on Meta’s advertising platform. However, the wording “for any reason” begs the question of whether legally compliant ads can be removed as well.

What this means for you: The details are not clear, as it seems Meta is reserving the right to reject or remove any ad if they deem necessary. Assuming you are a completely legally compliant brand with no reason for controversy, however, this should not be a problem.

Ad account owners are responsible for protecting their own accounts

Security breaches are not unheard of on Meta’s ad platform, and with point 4d, the company states they cannot be held responsible for any ad spend that occurs on your account. This means that if you are hacked and Orders are placed, you will be expected to take on the liability.

It’s important to note that this term has been in effect for quite some time, and there have been cases where users have received refunds for security breaches. Even so, don’t bank on it!

What this means for you: Protecting your account with measures such as a strong password and 2FA is the best way to avoid getting hacked in the first place. However, you should always contact Meta after a breach to see what they recommend as a solution. If they decide against a refund, there’s nothing much you can do.

Ad orders may continue being run for up to 24 hours after cancellation

Point 4f of the self-serve policy update states that while an Order can be cancelled at any time, ads may take up to 24 hours to stop running. Any expenses incurred during that time will be the responsibility of the media buyer.

What this means for you: As irritating as this can be, the truth is that it’s rare for an ad to continue running for that long after cancellation. It’s most likely that you will never encounter this issue, but if you do, know that it has already been covered in the terms.

Know What to Expect on Meta’s Advertising Platform in 2023

Meta’s social media products—Facebook, Instagram, Messenger—are some of the most powerful self-serve ad platforms today. And while many of these policy updates might be jarring, they aren’t necessarily new. Rather, they reinforce and expand on priorities the company has held for a long time.

At the end of the day, Meta’s priority is still to direct the best ads to the right audience. As long as you keep these updates in mind and proceed accordingly, the platform still has incredible advertising power that you can use to your brand’s advantage.