Meta Is Freezing Political Ads Before Election Day. Here’s What to Know.
Meta is set to block new social issue, electoral and political ads on its platforms on Tuesday, putting pressure on political advertisers to lock in their digital spots for the final week before Election Day.
The ad freeze shouldn’t come as a surprise for the political world. The company announced back in February that it would cut off new political ads in the final stretch, as it has in each election cycle going back to 2020. The idea is simple: In the final days leading up to an election, there’s simply not enough time to contest new claims made in last-minute political ads.
Of course, the policy doesn’t mean that all political ads will be cut off. Here’s what advertisers need to know before the freeze goes into effect:
When Exactly Does the Freeze Go Into Effect?
Meta platforms, including Facebook and Instagram, will begin blocking certain political and electoral ads starting at 12:01 a.m. PDT on Tuesday. That freeze will stay in place until 11:59 p.m. PDT on Election Day.
Which Ads Are Still Eligible to Run?
Any social issue, electoral or political ad that serves at least one impression before the restrictions take effect at midnight will be able to stay up through Election Day.
While that may seem like a low bar, it’s not necessarily as simple as it sounds. Meta’s systems can take anywhere from six to 24 hours to record an impression, so even if a new ad records its first impression on Monday, there’s no guarantee it’ll remain up.
“Because of this, we encourage advertisers to launch their ads well ahead of the restriction period in order to avoid this scenario,” Meta wrote in a blog post. Once an impression is recorded in Meta’s systems, the ad’s eligibility status will be updated and it’ll be able to run once again.
What’s Still Allowed During the Ad Freeze?
Meta’s political ad freeze doesn’t necessarily mean that advertisers are at the complete mercy of the social media giant. Even after the restriction period goes into effect, political advertisers can still do things, like pause and unpause ads and adjust bid amounts and schedules.
Still, there’s a lot that’ll be off limits.
Advertisers will be banned from editing ad creative, including copy, visual assets, website URLs or call-to-action buttons. There’s also a freeze on adjusting targeting or ad placement optimization, and advertisers won’t be able to make tweaks, like removing, switching or adding disclaimers to their spots, or switching the Facebook page or Instagram account that the ad is running from.
If advertisers make certain changes to their ads, like adjusting audience targeting, those ads will be sent back into Meta’s review process and won’t be able to run during the pre-election restriction period. In other words, make those changes as early as possible, because last-minute adjustments could mean your ads being shut out of Meta platforms for the next week.
