Meta Audience Network Policy

Understanding Our Policies

The Audience Network policies define the rules that developers must adhere to when incorporating advertising placements into their apps. These policies, along with our Community Standards, apply to all products, features, apps, services, and software that implement Audience Network, including Metaverse products.

Introduction

  1. Developers are responsible for ensuring their apps comply with all applicable laws, statutes, and regulations. In addition to complying with all applicable laws and statutes, as well as the Audience Network terms, including these policies, developers are responsible for adhering to our guidance for developers.
  2. Prior to onboarding, Publishers that maintain an ads.txt or app-ads.txt file must include Audience Network listed accurately.
  3. We reserve the right to reject, approve or remove any Publisher or app for any reason, at our sole discretion, including Publishers and apps that negatively affect our relationship with our users or advertisers, or that promote content, services, or activities, contrary to our competitive position, interests, or advertising philosophy.
  4. We may provide new or updated publisher quality standards at any time. You agree to comply with these standards, including any instructions or notices we may provide you relating to quality.
  5. Violations of these policies may result in suspension or termination of your use of our services.
  6. We analyze all ad engagement (i.e. clicks, impressions, views, installs, etc.) for patterns of abuse. If we determine that a publisher account might pose a risk to Meta, our users, or our advertisers, we may limit or disable that account.

Content Restrictions

Do not integrate or display ads in apps that contain or promote:

  1. Community Standards Violations: Content that violates our Community Standards.
  2. Advertising Policy Violations: Apps that serve ads with severe or repeated violations of our Advertising Policies will be removed from Audience Network.
  3. Content Monetization Policies Violations: Content that does not meet our Content Monetization Policies may be ineligible for monetization.
  4. Low Quality or Disruptive Content: Don't display ads on apps that are not fully-functional or that provide an unexpected, disruptive, or misleading experience. This includes apps that contain a disproportionate volume of ads relative to content, or ads that drive a negative user experience such as ads that are highly sexual, visually shocking, or promote scams.
  5. Illegal Products or Services: Apps must not constitute, facilitate, or promote illegal products, services or activities.
  6. Sensational Content: Apps must not contain shocking, sensational, inflammatory or excessively violent content.
  7. Discriminatory Practices: Apps must not discriminate or encourage discrimination against people based on personal attributes such as race, ethnicity, color, national origin, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, family status, disability, medical or genetic condition.
  8. Tobacco and Related Products: Apps must not promote the sale or use of tobacco products and related paraphernalia.
  9. Drugs and Drug-Related Products: Apps must not promote the sale or use of illegal, prescription, or recreational drugs.
  10. Unsafe Supplements: Apps must not promote the sale or use of unsafe supplements, as determined by Meta in its sole discretion.
  11. Weapons, Ammunition, or Explosives: Apps must not promote the sale or use of weapons, ammunition, or explosives.
  12. Adult Content, Products or Services: Apps must not contain adult content, products or services. This includes nudity, depictions of people in explicit or suggestive positions, sexual tips or fetishes, casual dating, or content that is overly suggestive or sexually provocative.
  13. Surveillance Equipment: Apps must not serve the function of or promote the sale of spy cams, mobile phone trackers or other hidden surveillance equipment.
  14. Penny or Pay Per Bid Auctions: Apps must not promote or facilitate penny auctions, bidding fee auctions, pay per bid auctions or other similar business models.
  15. Voting Information: Apps must not provide procedural voting information and apps must not solicit voter registration information.
  16. Real Money Gambling: Apps and sites that promote or facilitate online gaming/gambling where anything of monetary value (including digital currencies) is required to play and anything of monetary value forms part of the prize, are only allowed with our prior written permission. Online gaming/gambling may include betting, lotteries, raffles, casino, fantasy sports, bingo, poker and sweepstakes in an online environment.
  17. Sweepstakes: Apps must not promote free-to-play experiences where randomly selected users are able to earn or win real money or anything of monetary value.
  18. User-Generated Content: Apps must not integrate or display ads in apps that consist primarily of user-generated content, without our prior written permission.
  19. Exchanging or Trading in Social Engagement: Apps must not integrate or display ads in apps that contain or promote the purchase, sale, or exchanges of “likes”, “shares”, “followers”, “comments”, “accounts”, “pages”, “groups”, or any other Meta feature or functionality.
  20. Meta Imitation: Publishers must not integrate or display ads on apps that could easily be confused, by design and/or experience, with Meta or other Meta apps and products. This includes apps that imitates Meta or other Meta apps and products.
  21. Prohibited Financial Services: Apps must not promote financial products and services that are frequently associated with misleading or deceptive promotional practices, including, but not limited to, initial coin offerings, binary options, and contracts for difference trading.
  22. Deceptive Employment Opportunities: Apps must not promote unreasonable or unrealistic claims with regard to employment opportunities.
  23. Unacceptable Business Practices: Apps must not promote products, services, schemes or offers using deceptive or misleading practices, including those meant to scam people out of money or personal information.
  24. Instant Games Performance: Instant Games must meet our Game Quality Guidelines to monetize through Audience Network.

Implementation Restrictions and Requirements

  1. Inaccurate App Information: Apps must ensure the ad call always contains accurate information about your approved app. This includes but is not limited to placement size and top-level URL.
  2. Privacy Notice: Apps must include a privacy policy that adequately discloses your privacy practices.
  3. Early Access Mode: Apps must not monetize through Audience Network while operating in Android’s Early Access mode.
  4. App Availability: Audience Network is only available to apps offered in Apple iTunes or Google Play, unless you have our prior written approval.
  5. Editing or Modifying Ads: Apps must not edit, modify, filter, truncate or change the order of the information contained in any ad without our prior written permission. Apps must not use ad formats (including native ad formats) that cut off or minimize the creative either partially or wholly. Ad components (including Media View) should be fully viewable and recognizable by the user.
  6. Ad Scraping: Apps must not "crawl", "spider", index or in any non-transitory manner store or cache information obtained from any ads.
  7. Accidental Engagement: Apps must not place ads where people are likely to accidentally click.
  8. Interactive Content: Ensure that users can only engage with ad titles, URLs, “Call-to-Action” buttons, and image assets; users should not be able to engage with white space and the background of an ad, as this is an unexpected experience for users.
  9. Distinguishing Ads From Content: Apps must ensure that ads are clearly distinguishable from the rest of the content within the app and ads must be clearly labeled with the expandable "AdChoices" icon on the native ad and clearly marked with "Sponsored", “Promoted" or “Ad" unless you have our prior written permission.
  10. Interface Interference: Apps must not interfere with the results of an ad engagement, such as the ad’s pop-ups or redirects (e.g. don’t suppress views that pop up as a result of ad interaction).
  11. Forced Engagement: Publishers must ensure that engaging with an ad is not the only way to exit a screen.
  12. Ad Stacking: Apps must not stack multiple ads in a single ad placement. Only one Audience Network ad may fill one placement at a time.
  13. Unexpected Navigation: Apps must not direct people to a place or page where they do not express an intent to be directed.
  14. Deceptive Claims: Apps must not make deceptive claims that encourage or mislead people into engaging with ads.
  15. Soliciting or Incentivizing Engagement: Apps must not bait, encourage, or provide incentives for people to engage with ads.
  16. Auto-Refreshing Ads: Apps must not automatically refresh Audience Network ads. Don't manually re-request Advertisers' assets for an ad or display Audience Network ads through a mediation platform that implements automatic refresh mechanisms.
  17. Ads Outside App: Apps must not show ads in the background or outside of the app. Users should know what app an ad is running in. Ads should not run when the user is not actively using the app.
  18. Ads After Uninstall: Apps must not show ads to a user if that user has uninstalled that app.
  19. Spyware or Malware: Apps must not disseminate spyware, malware, or any software that results in an unexpected or deceptive experience. This includes links to sites containing these products.
  20. COPPA Compliance: Ensure compliance with the U.S. Childrens Online Privacy Protection Act ("COPPA"). You must also comply with our usage notes.

Quality and Authenticity

  1. Spam: Apps must not spam digital distribution platforms, which includes uploading multiple or similar versions of an app. Apps also must not omit basic information about the app, such as screenshots of the user interface or a description.
  2. Rights to the App: Publishers must not use Audience Network unless (a) they either own or operate the apps monetizing with Audience Network, or (b) the owner of the apps has given the publisher exclusive third-party rights to monetize the inventory of that app, or (c) they have our prior written permission. Developers must complete the app ownership verification process in order to monetize the relevant apps.
  3. Invalid Traffic: Publishers must not integrate or display ads in apps whose traffic is generated from automated processes. Publishers must implement Audience Network for users in a way that delivers genuine engagement with ads. Examples of what is not allowed:
    1. Using spiders or any other non-human traffic to drive people to your app or site.
    2. Using automated, deceptive, fraudulent or other invalid means (ex: through repeated manual clicks or the use of bots) to artificially inflate impressions or conversions, and ensure that one click on an ad only logs one click.
    3. Implementing Audience Network in a way that artificially inflates impressions or conversions.
  4. SDK Modification: Apps must not modify, translate, create derivative works of, or reverse engineer any SDK or its components.
  5. Real Users: Apps must not use bots, automated tools or software to mimic human behavior. Ads must be shown on real devices to real users who are actively engaged with the ads.
  6. Misrepresentation: Publishers must not misrepresent information related to their own or someone else’s business including, but not limited to, administrators, financial information, company details, app and app versions, app store, or users.
  7. Program Installation: Publishers must not encourage people to install programs that inject ads.
  8. Abnormal Behavior: We may limit or remove your access to Audience Network if our systems detect possible violations of our policies or potential harm to our advertisers and users. For example, if our systems detect abnormal behaviors, we may suspend and/or limit your use of Audience Network to confirm compliance with our terms and policies (ex: to check for a possible violation, or to ensure you've properly implemented Audience Network to avoid artificial engagement).

Additional Policies For Rewarded Video

  1. Opt-In Criteria Not Met: Users must proactively opt-in to viewing each ad at the time each ad is served. Acceptable opt-ins include, but are not limited to, a tap-to-play interaction or a countdown timer. Offering a one-time opt-in to viewing all rewarded ads is not acceptable. Proactive opt-in requires 1) clear disclosure of the reward and 2) ability to close or exit the ad without closing the app after the disclosure.
  2. Financial Rewards: Apps must not offer people monetary compensation or cash equivalents in exchange for viewing the ad. This includes but is not limited to gift cards, cryptocurrencies or in-app tokens or credits that are able to be redeemed for real money by the user or subsequent users.
  3. Injection of Rewarded Video or Rewarded Interstitial Ads: Rewarded Video or Rewarded Interstitial Ads may only be placed after a material break in the experience (i.e. level completed in a game) or, if there are no material breaks, the developer must place limits on Rewarded Video or Rewarded Interstitial Ads (i.e. maximum 3 Rewarded Video or Rewarded Interstitial Ads in a specific period of time) and disclose that it uses Rewarded Video or Rewarded Interstitial Ads in the digital store where it is downloaded.
  4. Non-Viewing Rewards: Apps must only offer users rewards for watching ads. Apps must not offer rewards for user activity outside of watching the ad. This includes but is not limited to offers for rewards for downloading an app or other deep funnel conversion events.
  5. Transferrable Rewards: Apps must not offer rewards that can be transferred between users. This includes but is not limited to gifts or tipping mechanisms.
  6. Rewards Probability Disclosure: Apps may offer random rewards, but the probability of winning the reward must be disclosed to the user, previous to the explicit opt-in, in clear readable text. Each ad must communicate the probability of winning on the call-to-action; blanket disclosures within the app are not compliant.
  7. Immediate Rewards: Apps must deliver the reward immediately after a person finishes viewing the ad, and the reward must be redeemable from within the app or site where the ad was launched.
  8. Exit Interference: Apps must not disable or alter users' ability to close, skip or exit rewarded video experiences.
  9. Interstitial Alternatives: Apps must not show an interstitial ad if users choose not to watch a Rewarded Video or Rewarded Interstitial Ad.
  10. Unearned Rewards: Apps must not grant users rewards If users choose to close the ad before the end or use a report/hide flow to dismiss the ad.