What Are The Display Advertising Restrictions? — Part 1

Published in

Inside Revenue

8 min readNov 20, 2018

The Beginner’s Guide

Display Advertising conveys advertising messages through visual aids, using text, logos, animations, videos, photographs, or other graphics. Display advertisers frequently target users with particular traits to increase the ads’ effect. However, as with advertising on Social Media, Display Advertising networks require users to adhere to their advertising policies in order to ensure that consumers can get the best experience from their internet usage.

It is for this reason that I have searched the web for the various advertising restrictions that apply to two platforms main that we have used in our business to advertise online, namely AdWords and Adroll. I wanted to consolidated this into this article set to give you a one-stop information set of the various policies that govern your Display Advertising efforts.

At some point in your advertising career you will need to become aware of these these restrictions and policies to help get your ads and campaigns approved with ease. So enjoy your consolidated article set on the advertising restrictions that govern Display Advertising.

“Bad process is better than no process, because you can improve systems but not randomness” — Aaron Ross (Author of /fromimpossible.com and predictablerevenue.com) @motoceo

In this article I will cover:
#1 What Are The Display Advertising Restrictions?
#2 Why Should I Care About The Display Advertising Restrictions?
#3 How Can The Display Advertising Restrictions Help Me Hit My Company’s Revenue Targets?
#4 What Should I Watch Out For With Regards To The Display Advertising Restrictions?

Let’s dive in…
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#1 What Are The Display Advertising Restrictions?

Advertising campaigns are built to accomplish a particular objective or a set of objectives. Such objectives usually include establishing a brand, raising brand awareness, improving the rate of conversions/sales, and more. The rate of success or failure in accomplishing these goals is largely dependant on how effectively these campaigns can move through the advertising review boards, and be approved to run on various networks — as should your campaign fail the stringent review process, you could waste valuable time and resources in trying to rectify them to be approved.

All of these objectives can be reached more efficiently if an advertiser complies with Display Advertising restrictions. These restrictions are put in place to protect web users from being exposed to harmful material. Online advertising can be a powerful way to reach customers, but platforms work hard to avoid showing ads that they may consider to be inappropriate for viewing — and the more you know about what content is deemed inappropriate, the more easily it will be to create campaigns that will not only meet the platforms’ requirements, but appeal to your targeted audiences.

For this reason, platforms do allow the promotion of certain sensitive content, but on a limited basis. These promotions may not show to every user in every location, and advertisers may need to meet additional requirements before their ads are eligible to run. Categories that comprise of sensitive content may include financial content, certain promotions, and content designed for viewing by adult audiences only, and more.

#2 Why Should I Care About The Display Advertising Restrictions?

More than 4 billion people use the internet. If you want to build your business brand, reach prospective customers, and make more sales, you can no longer ignore digital advertising. But beware: There are ineffective strategies that can eat your ad budget in record time, leaving you with little to show for your advertising efforts. However, the advantages of using digital advertising means far outweigh the disadvantages.

Below Are A Couple Of The Advantages And Disadvantages Of Display Advertising:

Advantages Of Display Advertising

Your Customers Are On The Internet
Do you know anyone who doesn’t use the internet? The fact that it is so ever-present is probably the most compelling reason to get on board. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn give you ample opportunities to put your products or services in front of potential customers, but the Google Display Network is a true advertising big shot with more than 2 million publisher sites on which you can advertise.
You Can Target Effectively
Unlike the wide net approach of traditional television and radio advertising, internet advertising lets you find the right prospects at the right time and show them an ad they may care about.
You Can Closely Monitor Spending
You can spend thousands on a 30-second television ad that might reach someone who might be interested in what you have to sell someday. You can also spend thousands on internet ads, and only pay when people who are interested in your products click on your ad. With digital ads, you can set a spending cap and limit the number of times a prospective customer sees an ad in a given period.
You Can Track Your Results
Digital advertising allows you to monitor and track the results of all your campaigns. You can find out when a lead converted into a sale, note the platform where it happened, and determine what kinds of ads are working best for your particular demographic. The internet, with all its minute tracking abilities, allows you to measure the return on investment of your marketing spend.

Disadvantages Of Display Advertising

It’s Complicated
There are a lot of choices when it comes to advertising on the internet. You can choose Display Ads that appear where your most likely prospects roam on the internet. There are Native Ads that show up on publisher sites and blend in so well that they appear not to be ads at all. Then there are Remarketing Ads that target someone who’s visited your website with a customized message that appears in front of them somewhere else on the internet. In addition to the range of ad options available, there are a variety of choices you need to make in terms of how you will pay for these ads. There are many factors that you will need to consider when developing a digital advertising campaign, and if you are not aware of what it takes to create a successful campaign, you may not see the results you desire.
Mistakes Can Be Costly
Because digital advertising can be complicated, it’s not uncommon for businesses to make mistakes. Neglect a bidding cap, target ineffectively, or leave a campaign running when you thought it was off, means that you can spend a fortune without turning a single lead into a sale. For example, if you don’t cap your bids, you could blow through the money you thought would last months in a matter of days.
Competition Is Fierce
It depends on your products and market, but internet advertising competition can make ads prohibitively expensive. For some businesses, it makes sense to build a good website and then rely on traditional advertising methods that have always worked in the past. But when done right, display advertising can be one of the most effective ways to get a leg up on the competition.
Ad Fatigue Is Common
Have you ever been on a site and seen an ad for a product on which you recently ran a search? That’s internet advertising in its most basic form, but have you also noticed that after a while, those ads don’t even register on your radar? It’s like they’re invisible. It’s a common and pervasive problem with running ads on the internet. If the campaigns aren’t run correctly, your brand and its products suffer from ad fatigue, leaving your message falling at the waist side.

#3 How Can The Display Advertising Restrictions Help Me Hit My Company’s Revenue Targets?

In order to effectively design and execute Display Advertising campaigns, one needs to be aware of the various content categories that are restricted per platform, as each platform differs on its restrictions and prohibited content. While these restrictions will be reviewed by the platform on a case by case basis, we advise understanding these restrictions thoroughly before submitting your ads for review, as it will aid you in designing campaigns that will fly through the approval process with ease.

In the next article, “What Are The Display Advertising Restrictions ? — Part 2 (The Intermediate Guide)”, I will go into detail about not only the restricted content categories per platform, but how they apply to ads and in some cases ad formats. I will cover these restrictions as listed by AdWords and Adroll — the two major players in the world of Display Advertising.

#4 What Should I Watch Out For With Regards To The Display Advertising Restrictions?

While content restrictions are clearly laid out by the platforms in order to aid in ad and campaign creation and execution, the use of certain content in certain cases will lead to immediate disapproval, and may even get your account blocked, or your advertising efforts banned for a certain period of time. These categories should be paid close attention to, as there will be no review or negotiation on these ads, therefore one needs to take special care regarding these content types.

In the article, “What Are The Display Advertising Restrictions ? — Part 3 (The Advanced Guide)”, I will take you through these in detail.

“When someone says you can’t, that’s the perfect opportunity to prove them wrong” — Elinor Stutz ( International Best-Selling Author, and Sales Consultant at Smooth Sale) @smoothsale

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In my next article, “What Are The Display Advertising Restrictions? — Part 2 (The Intermediate Guide)”, I will cover the restricted content that you should pay close attention to onAdroll and AdWords.