How Long Do Facebook Ads Stay in Review? Tips to Speed It Up

How Long Do Facebook Ads Stay in Review?

Waiting for your Facebook ad to be approved? You’re not alone. In 2023, with over 10 million advertisers and 90 million SMB pages, the competition for attention is intense, and review times can feel like forever.

While most ads are reviewed within 24 hours, high submission volumes, ad complexity, or small tweaks can push the review time to 48 hours or more. As a marketer, these delays can disrupt your entire strategy.

Want to get your ads approved faster? This guide breaks down the Facebook review process, common delays, and tips to speed things up.

Key Takeaways

Most ads are reviewed within 24 hours, but busy periods or flagged content can cause delays.
Human review may be triggered for policy concerns, adding extra time.
Changes to your ad (creative, targeting, budget) can prompt a re-review, so double-check before publishing.
High-quality visuals and functional landing pages help speed up approvals.
For Instagram ads, focus on visually engaging, mobile-optimised content.
Track the review status in Meta Ads Manager to check your ad’s current reviewal status.
Plan ahead for peak times like holidays to avoid delays.

The Facebook review process Explained

Whenever an ad goes live, whether for your new product launch or a simple post boost, it goes through the Facebook review process. This is Facebook's way of ensuring that its ad platform remains safe and compliant for users.

Here’s what happens when you submit an ad:

Internal Review: Once you hit “Publish," your ad is sent to Facebook’s automated system for internal review.
Human Review: If the automated system approves your ad, it will go live immediately. But if it raises any red flags, your ad may be passed on to a human reviewer for further evaluation.
Final Decision: The human reviewer will either approve or reject your ad based on Facebook’s advertising policies.

Users can see their ad review status in the Delivery column of Meta Ads Manager, ensuring they're always kept in the loop.

Facebook's automated review system uses Facebook's policies as its basis for your ad's evaluation. It looks for any violations and non-compliance issues that could harm users, businesses, or the platform. And if anything in your ad triggers a policy violation, you'll be notified, and your ad will not be approved. This is why it's crucial to understand these policies before submitting an ad.

How Long do Facebook Ads Stay in Review?

According to Facebook themselves, most ads are reviewed within 24 hours. However, many reviews occur much faster, sometimes taking mere minutes. Typically speaking, if your ad adheres to all policies and does not require human review, it will be approved sooner rather than later. And if you have a history of compliant ads, this process may even be quicker.

But what about extended review times?

If your ad is flagged for policy violations, it will need human intervention, which can slow down the review. High volumes of submissions during peak periods, like holidays or major events, can also result in delays.

Additional factors that can prolong review times include:

Being a new advertiser with no history
Multiple past policy violations
Use of sensitive or restricted content (e.g., alcohol, gambling, political ads)
Ads with low-quality images or excessive text
Non-matching landing pages
Complex ad elements (e.g., animations, special effects)
Ads that violate local regulations or discriminatory targeting practices

What Triggers a Facebook Ad re-review?

Ad reviews aren’t always a one-time process. If you change your ad, it will likely trigger a re-review. Here are some common actions that can prompt this:

Changing creative: Updating images, videos, or text
Adjusting targeting: Modifying audience segments
Altering the destination URL: Changing the landing page
Switching optimization goals or billing events: Selecting new objectives or billing methods
Significant budget changes: Large increases or decreases in budget

However, small adjustments like slight budget increases or schedule tweaks won’t usually trigger a full re-review. Just be mindful that major changes to your ad's settings could send it back through the review process.

How to Ensure a Smooth Ad Review Process

It's crucial to follow Facebook's policies and guidelines to avoid delays or issues during the review process. Here are some tips to help you get your ads approved without any hassle:

Familiarise yourself with Facebook's policies: Learn what Meta permits and prohibits in terms of ad content, targeting, and landing pages.
Use clear and high-quality images: Avoid using blurry or low-resolution images that don't meet Facebook's ad image standards.
Make sure your landing page is functional: Double-check that your destination URL works properly and matches the content advertised in your ad.
Avoid sensitive or restricted content: Do not advertise tobacco, weapons, adult products, or illegal substances on Facebook.
Target appropriately: Ensure that your targeting complies with Facebook's guidelines, such as not discriminating against specific groups of people.
Be transparent: If you're promoting a weight loss supplement, include a disclaimer that results may vary and the product is not a miracle cure.
Publish during business hours: Try to publish your ads between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Monday through Friday, as most reviewers work during this time.
Plan for the holiday season: Q4, holiday seasons and discount events often see a surge in ad submissions, leading to longer review times. Plan ahead and submit your ads well in advance to avoid any delays.
Communicate with Facebook: If your ad is rejected, contact Facebook for clarification on why it was not approved. They may guide what changes can be made to get your ad approved.

Remember that the ad review process does not always go smoothly. However, following these tips and guidelines can increase your chances of having your ads approved on Facebook.

What to Do if your Facebook Ad Gets Stuck in Review?

If your Facebook ad has been under review for over 24 hours, don’t worry—it happens. But instead of waiting around, you can ask Facebook to manually review your ad.

Here's how:

Head to Business Support Home.
Select your account or catalogue with the stuck ad.
Find the ad, ad sets, or campaigns causing the issue.
Click Request review, explain the issue, and hit Submit.

Facebook will then review your ad and give an explanation or decision within 48 hours. This could mean your ad will be approved, rejected, or require further changes.

You can track the status anytime in the Business Support Home.

What Happens if Your Facebook Ad Gets Rejected?

If your ad is rejected, you'll receive a notification and an explanation from Facebook as to why it was rejected. At this point, you can ask them to perform another review or make the necessary changes and resubmit your ad for review.

Below are a few things you can do if your Facebook Ad Gets Denied

Review Facebook's Explanation of the Rejection

First, you must understand Facebook's reasoning for rejecting your ad. This could be due to a violation of their advertising policies, such as:

Using inappropriate or false content
Promoting prohibited products or services
Presenting misleading information
Using offensive language or images

Make sure to carefully read through Facebook's explanation as this will effect the next step:

Edit or Create a New Ad

If given a clear reason, you can start changing your ad and its creative. Look at the components that may have violated policies (like the image, video, text, targeting, or landing page) and update them to meet the standards. Once you’ve edited and republished your ad, it will go through the review process again.

Note: Not all ad types can be edited, and you'll need to create a new one if this is the case. However, if you delete the rejected ad, you may lose the ability to request another review, as Facebook won’t have access to the necessary information.

Ask for Another Review

If you really believe that Facebook has made a mistake in rejecting your ad, you can ask for another review. Like defending yourself in court, you must explain why Facebook should approve your ad. Explain why you think the rejection was an error, and submit it to Facebook's support team for consideration.

Also, remember that human reviewers will conduct the review process, so it is important to remain professional and polite in your communication.

Create Multiple Ads with A/B testing

If you have a hunch that your ad could be denied, you can create similar ads with slight variations to test which one will be approved. This is called A/B testing, albeit used different than its original purpose. By creating multiple ads, you can increase your chances of having at least one approved.

At the same time, you'll also get to put up different ads and see which one will perform better. This can help you refine your ad creation process and improve your ads' overall effectiveness.

Seek Professional Help

No, you won't have to visit your local therapist, but you can seek help from a professional ad agency or social media expert. They will look through your ad and offer suggestions on how to improve it, making it more likely for Facebook to approve it.

Plus, with their expertise and experience in creating successful ads, they can provide valuable insights and strategies that you may not have thought of before. This can also save you time and effort in the long run.

Submit Your AD as an Organic Post

If everything fails, you can submit your ad as an organic post on your page. This way, your audience can still see and engage with the ad without going through the approval process.

Before posting, edit your ad to remove any calls-to-action, links, or other elements that may violate the guidelines. You can also add relevant hashtags and engage with your audience through comments to enhance visibility. Remember, while this method can provide temporary exposure, focusing on creating compliant paid ads is essential for sustained success.

Do Instagram Ads Go Through The Reveiwal Process?

Since Meta owns Instagram, the answer is yes.

Furthermore, Meta's ad policies also apply to Instagram, so make sure to adhere to them when creating your ads.

However, there are a few differences between the two. For example, Instagram has specific guidelines on what aspect ratios and image types are accepted for ads, particularly for Stories and Reels. This means your creatives should be designed with Instagram’s mobile-first audience in mind.

Another critical factor is Instagram’s algorithm, which heavily favours visually appealing, high-quality content. As such, you may want to prioritise creating eye-catching visuals to capture your audience’s attention and effectively convey your message.

How MagicBrief Streamlines The Ad Approval Process

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Tired of submitting contentious ads and waiting anxiously for approval? If so, it’s likely your ads aren't fully adhering to Facebook’s ad guidelines. Thankfully, MagicBrief can alleviate these pain points by streamlining the ad approval process.

MagicBrief helps in several ways:

Access top-performing ads: Browse ads from over 25,000 brands to ensure your ads align with industry standards.
AI-powered compliance: MagicAI helps tag and analyze your ads to ensure they follow Facebook’s ad policies, reducing the risk of rejection.
Creative tools: MagicBrief’s creative tools, including storyboards (known as concepts) and creative briefs, help you quickly build and refine ad ideas, ensuring your team is aligned and ready for approval.
Real-time collaboration: Work with your team to refine creatives and get feedback, ensuring your ads are polished and compliant.
Custom reports and performance scores: Use performance insights to guide your ad creation, ensuring your ads are both compliant and effective.

Join MagicBrief today and streamline your ad approval process on Facebook. Create winning ads in less time and with more confidence. As a result, you’ll not only save time and resources but also improve your chances of ad approval and overall campaign success.