Upcoming 2024 Restriction Period for US ads about social issues, elections, or politics

Update on Wednesday, November 6, 2024: On November 7, 2024 at 11:59 PM PT, the restriction period will end, and we will begin allowing new ads about social issues, elections and politics in the United States. Advertisers who have completed the authorization process may submit new ads that require a “Paid for by” disclaimer. Active ads will continue running and any edits may be made, including changes to content and targeting selections. We will not automatically resume paused ads — advertisers can manually turn these back on.

Update on Monday, November 4, 2024: The restriction period for ads about social issues, elections or politics is being extended until later this week. As a reminder, ads that have run prior to 12:01 AM PT on October 29, 2024 and served at least one impression will be allowed to continue while the restriction period is in effect with limited editing capabilities.

We previously announced that, as we have since 2020, we will block new social issue, electoral, and political ads during the final week of the general election in the US. While new ads will not be able to run during this restriction period, ads that have served at least one impression prior to the restriction period will be allowed to continue running with limited editing capabilities. The rationale behind this restriction period remains the same as previous years – in the final days of an election, we recognize there may not be enough time to contest new claims made in ads.

What to know about the ad restriction period in the US

We will not allow any new ads about social issues, elections or politics in the US from 12:01 AM PT on Tuesday, October 29, 2024 through 11:59 PM PT on Tuesday, November 5, 2024.

In order to run ads about social issues, elections or politics in the US during the restriction period, the ads must be created with a valid disclaimer and have delivered an impression prior to 12:01 AM PT on Tuesday, October 29, 2024.

Once the restriction period begins, advertisers can adjust the bid amount, budget amount, and scheduled end date of their ads that require a disclaimer. They can also pause or unpause ads as long as those ads served at least one impression before 12:01 AM PT on Tuesday, October 29, 2024. No other editing capabilities are permitted, which includes not allowing edits related to creative, placement, targeting, or optimization.

See these ad restriction period best practices for detailed requirements of what is or isn’t allowed during the restriction period.

Planning ahead for key dates

Keep in mind the following dates as you plan your campaign to avoid delays or disapprovals that may prevent your ads from running during the restriction period:

• By Tuesday, October 15, 2024: Complete the ad authorization process to get authorized to run ads about social issues, elections or politics, which includes setting up an approved disclaimer for your ads.
• By Tuesday, October 22, 2024: Submit your issue, electoral or political ads in order to best ensure that your ads are live and have delivered at least 1 impression with a valid disclaimer before the restriction period begins.
  • Please ensure that you add your approved disclaimer to these ads by choosing ISSUES_ELECTIONS_POLITICS in the special_ad_categories field. You will not be able to add a disclaimer after 12:01 AM PT on Tuesday, October 29th, 2024.
  • Please note that our systems may take between 6-24 hours to record an impression.
    • For example, if an ad delivers its first impression on Monday, October 28, our systems may not immediately indicate that the ad is eligible to run during the restriction period. It may take until Tuesday, October 29 for that ad to accurately reflect its eligibility status and affected advertisers will not be able to run their ads until the status is updated.
    • Because of this, we encourage advertisers to launch their ads well ahead of the restriction period in order to avoid this scenario.
• Between Tuesday, October 29, 2024 and Tuesday, November 5, 2024: The ad restriction period will be in effect. We will not allow any new ads to run about social issues, elections or politics in the US starting 12:01 AM PT on Tuesday, October 29th, 2024 through 11:59 PM PT on Tuesday, November 5, 2024.
• At 12:00 AM PT on Wednesday, November 6, 2024: We will allow new ads about social issues, elections or politics to be published. At this time, you will also be able to start making edits to your ads again.

As the restriction period approaches, we encourage you to review these ad restriction period best practices to properly prepare ahead of time.

We will continue to provide updates on the restriction period via this blog.