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Facebook removes the 20% text limit on ad images
Facebook has discreetly removed the rule that limited text space on ad images to only 20 percent. What does this mean for advertisers? The social networking giant will now no longer penalize ads that contain more text than images on them.
According to social media expert Matt Navarra, Facebook contacted advertisers directly to tell them about the new update.
A previous version of this overview outlined the specific ad limits:
“To create a better experience for viewers and advertisers, ads that appear on Facebook, Instagram, and the Audience Network are screened based on the amount of image text used in your ad. Based on this review, advertisements with a higher percentage of image text may not be shown. Please note that exceptions may apply to certain ad images. For example, exemptions apply to book covers, album covers and product images.”
The rule was pretty clear — ads with too much text in their images would not be approved. Facebook even provided a Text Overlay tool to check if that your ad aligns with the 20% restriction. However, that tool is also no longer available, as Facebook looks to ease back its restrictions.
The company’s long-held text restrictions in ad images have caused major headaches for many advertisers, requiring significant, specific reformatting of ads in order to align with Facebook’s ad rules. At times, Facebook’s enforcement process in this respect has also been flawed; advertisers sometimes having to negotiate with representatives in order to get their ads approved.
Why did Facebook have the text limit at all?
Over the years, the company has repeatedly noted that Facebook and Instagram users dislike ads with too much text in the main image, so it was seemingly to improve the general user experience.
Its ad text rules were, however, altered back in 2018, which enabled marketers to include more text in their ads — but with ad reach restricted relative to how much you exceeded the limit. This new update removes any reach restriction, meaning heavy text ads will reach the same amount of people as any other Facebook ad.
While no formal statement has been issued by Facebook, the updated page on text in ad imagery can be seen here.