My Continued Battle With Facebook

As a followup, I’d like to discuss my Battle with Facebook. In my previous post, Is Facebook Advertising Worth The Hassle , I talked about how difficult Facebook can be. And how it’s still worth it.

Well, Facebook is making it very difficult for me to continue to have that point of view. My Battle with Facebook continues.

Today, 8 of my client’s ads were beginning to pay off. After weeks of paying hundreds of dollars and tweaking them to be productive, they were finally pumping out leads and I was so very happy. That was this morning…..then, as if the Universe was playing a sick joke on me, they turned the ads off automatically. I noticed they were off and so I began to turn them back on. Then, I got a notice that my account was cancelled for violating their terms and conditions!!!!!

What?

After finally getting my ads approved, they later decide I offended the thought police? And they won’t even tell you why, or how to fix it. I poured over their policies again, to no avail. I hadn’t violated anything! This is from people to which I’m paying hundreds of dollars. Where’s the customer service? My Battle with Facebook has just begun. I’m taking this personally now. They disabled my account. What alternate reality do they exist in?

My ads were all very helpful to consumers. They were designed to provide comparison quotes and helpful information on a variety of products. Nothing taboo, nothing offensive, and nothing even really well produced. The really awesome ads I produced were not accepted. After many attempts and weeks of effort, I finally got 8 approved. It was a breath of fresh air when that day came. Then, it was such a happy morning today. We were high-fiving each other at the office, looking forward to a steady stream of sales and declining costs over time. But that all changed about 3pm. I can’t actually type what I said. That wouldn’t be appropriate.

Facebook, if you’re listening, you’ve gone too far. You need to provide better customer service and clear help for advertisers wanting to adhere to your stringent rules; Help getting ads approved and avoiding erroneous cancellations and ambiguous notices. At some point, you’ll become too much trouble for the marketplace and you’ll lose your business.

Here’s Facebook’s advertising policies. Have a fun read.

So, TopLocal.org fans, stay tuned to my next installment about my battle with Facebook. I don’t know how it will go, but I foresee a hair-pulling myriad of hoops to jump through. Wish me luck.