This is a handy explainer for those who keep wondering why Facebook’s ad review process takes so long at times, or why your latest Facebook ad got rejected.

This week, Facebook has published a new overview of its ad review system, which may not necessarily leave you any more satisfied as to how your ad is being assessed. But the additional context could help you understand any errors or missteps that you may have experienced.

As explained by Facebook:

“Our ad review system is designed to review all ads before they go live. This system relies primarily on automated technology to apply our Advertising Policies to the millions of ads that run across our apps. While our review is largely automated, we rely on our teams to build and train these systems, and in some cases, to manually review ads.”

So before you start cursing out some nameless, faceless moderator at Facebook HQ, it is worth noting that your ad has almost definitely been rejected by automated detection, not a human.

Here’s a diagram of how Facebook’s Ad Review system works:

So ideally, within Facebook’s ad review process, humans are not involved, and likely won’t ever be unless there’s a specific reason.

“While ad review is typically completed within 24 hours, it may take longer, and ads can be reviewed again, including after they’re live. […] Unlike the initial ad review, we rely more heavily on teams of human reviewers to process re-review requests from advertisers but are continuously assessing ways to increase automation.”

So if you request a re-review, or your ad is flagged for some reason, that’s when human assessors may get involved. But as Facebook notes, it’s increasingly looking to automate all aspects – so it may well be that even in those cases, your ad is never viewed by human eyes internally.

As noted, that might not make you feel any less frustrated about the process. But at least you know why.

Facebook also notes that:

“When we launch a new policy, it can take time for the various parts of our enforcement system, both automated technology and trained global teams, to learn how to correctly and consistently enforce the new standard, but as we gather new data and feedback, our machine learning models and our automated enforcement improve.”

Which could be another reason why your ad got rejected.

In addition to this, Facebook says that all ads need to adhere to its  Advertising Policies and Community Standards. 

So there are various steps in the Facebook Ad Review process, and almost all of them rely on full automation.

Again, if you’ve been frustrated by delays or rejections within Facebook’s system, this overview may provide more context into what’s occurred, or is occurring internally. 

There are no secret tricks or tips to get you through any faster here, but it may help to provide more understanding as to the specific elements at play.

You can check out Facebook’s full Ad Review overview here.