Restriction period for ads about social issues, elections or politics before the US 2024 general election

Update on Wednesday, 6 November 2024: On 7 November 2024 at 23:59 PT, the restriction period will end, and we will begin allowing new ads about social issues, elections and politics in the United States. Advertisers who have completed the authorisation process may submit new ads that require a “Paid for by” disclaimer. Active ads will continue running and any edits may be made, including changes to content and targeting selections. We will not automatically resume paused ads — advertisers can manually turn these back on.

Update on Monday, 4 November 2024: The restriction period for ads about social issues, elections or politics is being extended until later this week. As a reminder, ads that have run prior to 00:01 PT on 29 October 2024 and served at least one impression will be allowed to continue while the restriction period is in effect with limited editing capabilities.

In November 2023, we announced that, as we have since 2020, we will block new social issue, electoral and political ads during the final week leading up to Election Day in the US (00:01 PT on 29 October 2024 until 23:59 PT on 5 November 2024). While new ads will not be able to run during this restriction period, ads that have run prior to the restriction period and served at least one impression will be allowed to continue running during this time with limited editing capabilities. The rationale behind this restriction period remains the same as previous years – in the final days of an election, we recognise that there may not be enough time to contest new claims made in ads.

What to know about the restriction period

• Time frame: The restriction period will run from 00:01 PT on Tuesday, 29 October 2024 until 23:59 PT on Tuesday, 5 November 2024.
• Eligibility to run: If an ad about social issues, elections or politics serves an impression before the restriction period comes into effect, it will be eligible to run during the restriction period.
• Delayed impression recording: Although ads about social issues, elections or politics that serve an impression before the restriction period comes into effect are eligible to run during the restriction period, our systems may take between 6-24 hours to record an impression.
  • For example, if an ad delivers its first impression on Monday, 28 October, our systems may not immediately indicate that the ad is eligible to run during the restriction period.
  • As a result, it may take time on Tuesday, 29 October for that ad to accurately reflect its eligibility status and affected advertisers will not be able to run their ads until the status has been updated.
  • Because of this, we encourage advertisers to launch their ads well ahead of the restriction period in order to avoid this scenario.
• Editing an ad: Once the restriction period has begun, advertisers can adjust the bid amount, budget amount and scheduled end date of their ads that require a disclaimer. They can also pause or unpause ads as long as those ads served at least one impression before 00:01 PT on 29 October 2024. No other editing capabilities are permitted, which includes not allowing edits related to creative, placement, targeting or optimisation.
  • Note: If you make any edit that sends your ad back into ad review (for example, a change to targeting) and the edited ad doesn't serve at least one impression with that edit applied before the restriction period goes into place, the ad won't be able to run during the restriction period. This means that you should avoid making these types of edits straight before the restriction period comes into place.

What is allowed during the restriction period?

What you can do during the restriction period for eligible ads that have already served at least one impression:

• Edit bid amount, budget and schedule
• Pause and unpause eligible ads

What you cannot do during the restriction period for eligible ads without risking their ad's ability to run during the remainder of the restriction period:

• Edit certain aspects of eligible ads, such as ad creative (including ad copy, image/video assets, website URL)
• Edit targeting, placement, optimisation or campaign objective
• Add to or remove disclaimers from an ad

Plan ahead

Bear in mind the following dates as you plan your campaign to avoid delays or disapprovals that may prevent your ads from running during the restriction period:

• By Tuesday, 15 October 2024: Complete the ad authorisation process to become authorised to run ads about social issues, elections or politics, which includes setting up an approved disclaimer for your ads.
• By Tuesday, 22 October 2024: Create your issue, electoral or political ads, in order to ensure that your ads are live and have delivered at least one impression with a valid disclaimer before 00:01 PT on Tuesday, 29 October 2024.
• Between Tuesday, 29 October 2024 and Tuesday, 5 November 2024: The ad restriction period will be in effect. We will not allow any new ads to run about social issues, elections or politics in the US starting at 00:01 PT on Tuesday, 29 October until 23:59 PT on Tuesday, 5 November 2024.
• At 00:00 PT on Wednesday, 6 November 2024: We will allow new ads about social issues, elections or politics to be published. At this time, you will also be able to start making edits to your ads again.

As the restriction period approaches, we encourage you to review these ad restriction period best practices to properly prepare ahead of time.