This morning we were forwarded an email from a Facebook sales representative which suggested that new Facebook Promotions guidelines will soon be released. In contrast to before, where promotions would need to be explicitly approved, promotions will no longer need prior written approval from Facebook.
While the email claims that the promotions must still follow the company’s Promotions Guidelines (found here), the changes have not yet been reflected in those guidelines. We’ve reached out to Facebook for confirmation, however it would seem strange that this Facebook sales representative would misrepresent the new changes. Here’s is the complete email that was sent from a sales representative:
We have some exciting updates regarding the administration of Promotions, Sweepstakes and Contests on Facebook that will help to streamline the process and make your lives a bit easier:
- We no longer require prior written Facebook approval to administer a promotion on Facebook.
- We no longer require a minimum media spend investment to support the promotion.
This means that you are not required to have a media campaign on Facebook to run a promotion, nor do you need to ask for approval on the contest T&Cs from the Facebook team. Please note that all promotions are still subject to our Promotion Guidelines (http://www.facebook.com/promotions_guidelines.php) and Facebook Platform Policies (http://developers.facebook.com/policy/), and that brands are responsible for ensuring that all contests fall within those guidelines.
In November of 2009 Facebook first announced changes to the promotions guidelines, requiring any company to get explicit approval from Facebook first. This does not mean that promotions which were previously rejected can now operate. As such, the following types of promotions are still not allowed:
- Photo contests which require profile photo manipulation
- Status update contests which require posting status updates for entry
- Contest entries once a user has become a fan
While we have no idea when these changes will take place, we’re assuming it’s imminent since this email was sent out this morning. We’ll have further updates once we hear back from Facebook.
Update
We’ve confirmed with Facebook that the new promotions guidelines have gone into effect and that the terms will be updated soon.
Finally. Never got a reply from Facebook.
Comment by @dankafka — November 30, 2010 @ 4:01 am
Finally…
Though it's possible to ask fans to become a fan for entering a contest? Right?
4.2 In the rules of the promotion, or otherwise, you will not condition entry to the promotion upon taking any action on Facebook, for example, updating a status, posting on a profile or Page, or uploading a photo. You may, however, condition entry to the promotion upon becoming a fan of a Page.
Comment by berend — November 30, 2010 @ 8:21 am
@berend: I do believe you can condition entry to the promo upon becoming a fan of a pan page, but as I live in Norway, a whole other rule set applies to me.. It seems like no agency enforces any of the rules. But we try to follow the guidelines, although they can be "hard"read..
Comment by facingbusiness — November 30, 2010 @ 11:59 am
This is fantastic. My company runs a high volume of low-budget campaigns, and the required minimum spend was never possible. We had to shift sweepstakes/giveaways to Twitter, which was fine, but certainly doesn't offer the same traffic or dev opportunities as Facebook.
Comment by Andy — November 30, 2010 @ 2:31 pm
So the only change is that we no longer have to get approval from FB?
All other T&C's apply?
Comment by Jay — November 30, 2010 @ 4:17 pm
This article has a great title, but doesn't change anything for small business owners wanting to run a contest or promotion on their page.
This just means FB has to staff less people to deal with the approval process. The TOS still apply, and your fan page can still get shut down if you violate them.
Comment by chancechapman — November 30, 2010 @ 6:54 pm
The new Ts and Cs are now up: http://www.facebook.com/promotions_guidelines.php
They're much simpler now, with only two primary clauses. Much easier to read and understand; a Very Good Thing™.
Comment by @owenblacker — December 2, 2010 @ 6:59 am
looking forward to seeing just HOW FLEXIBLE the new guidelines. looking forward to contest / promotional news…
Comment by paullanders — December 3, 2010 @ 8:37 am
Is it just me … or is there an army of others in the world who hate facebook too ? I'm so tired to these internet mega corps and the heavy handed nonsense they pull. Everywhere I turn, they seem to be trying to screw people over. Google, Binghoooo, FB …
In this case only reason facebook lifted the embargo is because they couldn't stop people from doing it anyway. Still can't enforce their new rules about it. Cause as long as it's not done "on facebook", you can run any promotion you want … WITH ANY TERMS YOU WANT.
Reason they started the embargo in the 1st place. Was to try to squeeze every last dime out of people they can get their grimy, greedy, control freak hands on. Wanted to try to force businesses on the site to bow down and pay up. People just found 132,200 ways around their gestapo TOS on promotions. So now now facebook is generously relaxing it's policy.
My take on it ? Screw facebook … I'll run anything I want on their site/servers … Anyway I want and there's nothing they can really do about it. The facebook users enjoy giveaways and promotions. If they have to like something to get a prize … It's harmless as could be … They can just unlike it, if they don't really like it.
Talking about how they're looking out for their users experience … FB would sell every detail they have about 20 million people to the KGB for $5, lol.
Comment by MrSmith — February 5, 2011 @ 11:20 am
Is it just me … or is there an army of others in the world who hate facebook too ? I'm so tired of these internet mega corps and the heavy handed nonsense they pull. Everywhere I turn, they seem to be trying to screw people over. Google, Binghoooo, FB …
In this case only reason facebook lifted the embargo is because they couldn't stop people from doing it anyway. Still can't enforce their new rules about it. Cause as long as it's not done "on facebook", you can run any promotion you want … WITH ANY TERMS YOU WANT.
Reason they started the embargo in the 1st place. Was to try to squeeze every last dime out of people they can get their grimy, greedy, control freak hands on. Wanted to try to force businesses on the site to bow down and pay up. People just found 132,200 ways around their gestapo TOS on promotions. So now facebook is generously relaxing it's policy.
My take on it ? Screw facebook … I'll run anything I want on their site/servers … Anyway I want and there's nothing they can really do about it. The facebook users enjoy giveaways and promotions. If they have to like something to get a prize … It's harmless as could be … They can just unlike it, if they don't really like it.
Talking about how they're looking out for their users experience … FB would sell every detail they have about 20 million people to the KGB for $5, lol.
Comment by MrSmith — February 5, 2011 @ 11:44 am
Looks like this is a fairly old post, but I am in the process of running an ad on facebook. Anyone can clarify if we are allowed to 1) Make a give away contest, 2) Require people to tag themselves in a photo in order to enter the contest (and obviously they'd have to "like" the page before they can tag) or is tagging not allowed, but liking a page is?
Comment by Mike — May 10, 2011 @ 11:57 pm
before storing in a cool, well ventilated mbt shoes sandals, of course, have some dry days, when the existing mildew, either use a soft cloth or soft brush to remove mold, shoeshine brush and fill with the times. If you do not demolding, mbt footwear shoe store, moldy phenomenon becomes more serious, mold spores spread to the air pollution, bring indoor climate, but also harmful to health.
Comment by mbts — May 19, 2011 @ 5:19 am