What is a Policy Violation?

A policy violation is any mismatch between ads, creatives, landings, or account behavior and platform rules (Meta Advertising Standards, Google Ads Policy, TikTok Ad Policies, etc.). Severity ranges from technical (broken link) to severe (deceptive practices, prohibited products).

Categories: prohibited content (drugs, weapons, adult on mainstream networks), restricted content (alcohol, gambling by GEO), misleading claims, circumvention (cloaking, fake engagement), intellectual property, personal attributes (“Do you have diabetes?”).

Consequences

From ad disapproval to account ban and legal action in extreme cases. Cumulative: Meta Policy Center shows strike history.

Risk reduction

Read policy for vertical and GEO, no guaranteed income/cure claims, use disclaimers, do not copy violating competitor creatives. When unsure — affiliate manager advice and test on a less strict network.

Arbitrage context

Grey-hat lives on the policy edge; black-hat crosses it. White-hat redesigns the offer for rules, not just rewording the same prohibited product.

See also: ad moderation, account ban, grey hat arbitrage, GDPR.