Why Was My Instagram Ad Rejected?
Seeing that dreaded "Your ad wasn't approved" notification from Instagram can be incredibly frustrating. You spent time crafting the perfect image and copy, only to be stopped at the starting line without a clear explanation. This guide breaks down the most common reasons why Instagram rejects ads and shows you exactly what to do to get your campaigns approved and running.
Understanding Meta's Ad Policies: The Rulebook for Instagram Ads
First, it's important to know that Instagram uses the same advertising policies as its parent company, Meta (formerly Facebook). Ad reviews are often handled by an automated system that scans your ad's creative, copy, targeting, and landing page for policy violations. While this system is fast, it sometimes makes mistakes, which is why there's a process for manual review.
Meta's ad policies are extensive, but they generally fall into two main categories:
Prohibited Content: This is content that is flat-out not allowed on the platform, no exceptions. Think illegal products, firearms, discriminatory practices, and misleading claims.
Restricted Content: This is content that is allowed, but with specific rules and targeting limitations. Examples include alcohol, dating services, financial products, and contests.
Familiarizing yourself with the official Meta Advertising Policies is the best long-term strategy, but let’s cover the most frequent offenders that trip up marketers and business owners every day.
The Most Common Reasons for Instagram Ad Rejection
Most rejections are not because you're trying to do something malicious. They're often simple oversights or a misunderstanding of a specific policy. Here’s a breakdown of the usual suspects.
1. Issues with Your Ad Creative (Image or Video)
Your ad's visual is the first thing the review system (and your audience) sees, and it's a common source of problems.
"Before and After" Images: While popular in health and beauty, "before and after" images are often rejected because they can imply unrealistic outcomes and touch on sensitive personal attributes, like weight loss. Using them is a surefire way to get your ad flagged.
Exaggerated Claims or Misleading Buttons: A video with a fake "Play" button embedded in it to trick users into clicking is a classic violation. Similarly, visuals that promise impossible results (e.g., "Get a six-pack in three days!") will get rejected.
Low-Quality Media: Blurry, pixelated images or videos that are hard to understand create a bad user experience. Instagram’s advertising platform prioritizes high-quality content, and your ad may be rejected if its resolution is too low.
Too Much Text on Image: Meta famously had a "20% text" rule that would automatically reject images with too much text overlay. While this rule has been relaxed and is now more of a performance guideline (ads with less text perform better), an excessive amount of text can still trigger a rejection, especially if it’s for a sensitive topic.
2. Problems with Your Ad Copy and Landing Page
What you write is just as important as what you show. The automated review system reads your primary text, headline, and the content on your destination URL.
Referring to Personal Attributes: You cannot directly or indirectly call out a person's age, race, gender, health condition, or financial status. For example, copy like "Are you struggling with debt?" is a violation. Instead, you could say, "Our service helps people achieve financial freedom." Focus on the solution, not the person's circumstance.
Unrealistic Promises: Similar to visual claims, your copy can't make promises that are too good to be true. "Triple your income overnight" or "Lose 20 pounds in one week!" are instant red flags for the system.
Non-Functional Landing Page: The link in your ad must go to a live, working webpage. If your website is down, in-progress, or returns a 404 error, the ad will be rejected. The system also checks for a poor user experience, like an overwhelming number of pop-ups that prevent a user from leaving the page.
Landing Page Mismatch: The content on your landing page must directly relate to a product or service you're advertising. If your ad shows a pair of blue running shoes, but the link goes to a homepage selling kitchen gadgets, that's a mismatch and will be rejected.
3. Targeting Restricted Categories Incorrectly
Certain products and services are perfectly legal but considered "restricted." This means you can advertise them, but you must strictly follow targeting rules to avoid showing them to inappropriate audiences.
Alcohol: Ads promoting alcohol must be age-gated to exclude audiences under the legal drinking age in the country you're targeting.
Financial Services: Ads for credit cards, loans, or cryptocurrency often require special permissions and must be targeted to users 18 and older. They are also subject to much higher scrutiny for making misleading claims about financial returns.
Real Estate, Employment, and Credit (HEC Ads): Social issues have led to very strict policies for these categories. These ads cannot be targeted in a way that could discriminate based on protected characteristics (like age, gender, or race). To run these ads, you must declare them as a "Special Ad Category," which automatically limits your targeting options to prevent discrimination.
4. Referencing Instagram or Meta Improperly
It might seem logical to mention "Instagram" in your ad, but doing so incorrectly can get your ad rejected. Meta is very protective of its trademarks.
Incorrect Logo Usage: You can't use the Instagram, Facebook, or Meta logos in your ad creative. This can imply an official endorsement or partnership that doesn't exist.
Implying Endorsement: Using language like "Check out our Instagram-approved partner" is forbidden.
Using Altered Versions of the Name: Using shorthand like "IG" or variations with symbols like "F@cebook" to try and bypass the system will almost always lead to a rejection. Generally, it's best to avoid using their brand names in your ads altogether.
What to Do After Your Ad Is Rejected
Getting a rejection isn't a dead end. In most cases, it's a fixable problem. Follow these steps when it happens.
Step 1: Don't Panic – Read the Rejection Notice
Go to your Meta Ads Manager and look at the rejected ad. The system will usually cite the specific policy it thinks you violated. While the reason can sometimes be vague (e.g., "Low-Quality or Disruptive Content"), it’s your best starting point for what might be wrong.
Step 2: Edit and Resubmit Your Ad
If the error is obvious based on the feedback - a typo in the URL, a "before and after" picture, a piece of copy referencing a personal attribute - the fastest solution is to edit the ad.
Go into the ad set, correct the offending creative or copy, and save your changes. This will resubmit the ad to the review queue. Often, this simple fix is all you need.
Step 3: Request a Review (If You Believe It's a Mistake)
Sometimes, the automated system gets it wrong. If you’ve read the policy through and are confident your ad is compliant, you can request a manual review. This sends your ad to a human team at Meta for a second look.
In your Account Quality dashboard, you'll see an option to "Request Review" for a rejected ad. This is the best path forward if you believe the system made an error. Don't simply duplicate the ad and hope for the best, as repeated violations can put your ad account at risk.
Proactive Tips to Avoid Future Ad Rejections
The best way to deal with rejected ads is to prevent them from happening in the first place.
Read the Policies for Your Industry: If you're in a restricted category like finance or real estate, invest 30 minutes in reading the specific rules that apply to you.
Keep Ads and Landing Pages Consistent: Ensure the message, offer, and branding are consistent from the moment a user sees your ad to the moment they land on your page.
Create "Safe" Template Ads: Build a few simple, proven ad campaigns with compliant creative and copy that you can duplicate and adapt for future offers. This gives you a safe starting point.
Age Your Ad Account: Brand-new ad accounts are often under more scrutiny than established accounts with a history of running compliant ads. Be extra careful with your first few campaigns to build a good reputation.
Final Thoughts
Having an Instagram ad rejected is a common part of the advertising process and rarely a signal of permanent failure. By understanding the core policies around your creative, copy, and targeting, and following a clear process to edit or appeal, you can quickly navigate these hurdles and get your message in front of the right audience.
Once you get your ads approved, the next big challenge is turning performance data into actionable insights without spending a full day wrangling spreadsheets. We built our product because combining data from Instagram Ads, Google Analytics, and your sales platform is a tedious, manual process. With Graphed, you can ask simple questions in plain English - like "Compare money spent vs. new customers from my Q3 Instagram campaigns" - and it instantly builds you a shareable, real-time dashboard. This allows you to focus on strategy, not just reporting.