On May 11, Facebook revised its promotions policy. This evolving set of legal guidelines govern all promotions run on Facebook, and outline what Page owners can and can not do when running promotions on Facebook to remain compliant with Facebook policy.
The primary change to the Facebook promotions policy is the removal of some specific prohibitions on certain types of promotions, as well as guidelines around minor participation in promotions. Major items that have not changed include that all promotions must be run within 3rd party apps on Facebook.
What does the policy mean for your promotions plans? Here is a breakdown of the details:
What has changed for Facebook Promotions
- The primary change in this update is that Facebook has removed some specific prohibitions on certain types of promotions, such as promotions involving alcohol, dairy, firearms, gambling, and gasoline. While this does mean that promotions can now offer alcohol or dairy as a prize, for example, the new guidelines also strongly maintain that all promotions must comply with all laws and regulations of the jurisdictions where the promotion is open. This means that the burden of responsibility for checking that a promotion can legally offer a specific prize remains in the hands of the promotion administrator and page owner, and that by running such a promotion on Facebook, he or she is affirming that the promotion complies with all applicable laws and regulations.
- There is no longer any explicit prohibition of minor (13-17 years of age) entry to Facebook promotions. Similar to the changes above, the removal of age related guidelines still implies that the promotion administrator is running the promotion in compliance with all of the applicable age related laws and regulations wherever his promotion is running.
- Facebook has included a very clear definition of what constitutes a promotion: “a contest, competition, sweepstakes or other similar offering,” where “by ‘contest’ or ‘competition’ [Facebook means] a promotion that includes a prize of monetary value and a winner determined on the basis of skill (i.e., through judging based on specific criteria)” and “by ‘sweepstakes’ [Facebook means] a promotion that includes a prize of monetary value and a winner selected on the basis of chance.”
What has not changed for Facebook Promotions
- All promotions still need to be run within 3rd party Apps (like Wildfire Promotion Builder) on Facebook.com, and can be run either on a Canvas page or as an app on a Page Tab.
- You still may not use Facebook features or functionality as a way of entering or registering for a promotion. In other words, you cannot have users simply “Like” your page to enter into a contest— the entry process must be contained within the 3rd party app environment, and include a registration (like a form) separate of the act of “Liking” a page.
- You may not use Facebook features or functionality such as the Like button as a method of voting for a promotion. Again, because promotions must be run within 3rd party apps on Facebook, this regulation maintains that promotion elements like voting be contained in apps, and not within Facebook simply by using the “Like” button.
- You still cannot use Facebook to notify winners, such as by sending them a message, chat, or wall post alerting them to their win.
What you need to know
Wildfire remains the easiest tool to use to create a compelling and intuitive promotion for your Facebook fans. Best of all, when you run a Wildfire promotion, you know that the functionality of your campaigns is compliant with Facebook’s promotions guidelines, even in the occasion that they change (like yesterday!).
While you will still need to be aware of and in compliance with the applicable rules and regulations for running promotions in your jurisdiction, we do work with some excellent promotions agencies who are knowledgable of all relevant legal standards and guidelines.
As always, we welcome any questions, concerns, or feedback you might have. You can leave a comment in the box below, or email us at info@wildfireapp.com. We’re happy to address all inquiries!
The complete updated guidelines can be found here.
Thanks for posting, this is very helpful!
Hi,
I understand that within the wall you cannot request people to click ‘Like’ to vote. However, when running a separate application can you use ‘Like’ to vote within the application?
thanks,
Ian
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What are your recommendations for announcing the winner if you arent allowed to notify a winner throught Facebook?
Email, for sure! :)
What do you think about bloggers who allow you to have an extra entry on their giveaways (hosted on the blog, not Facebook) for liking either the blog or company fan page?
I’ve done this before but it doesn’t seem like the new rules allow it.
Hey Jennifer! If its hosted on the blog, there’s nothing wrong with it!
Also, so long as you’re hosting the application entirely within a 3rd party environment, and that 3rd party environment also sends those share messages, you are able to post that you can get “an extra entry” for sharing, so long as you actually know you can track the sharing. :)
Thanks! I feel much better with this explanation. I use the honor system. When people say they like my page, I believe them. Heck with little more than 200 fan page likes, it’s easy to notice if someone new likes me. :)
Thanks. We’re looking to run a promotion with Wildfire, so it’s nice to know about the guideline updates for Facebook.
Absolutely, Doug!
Can you advertise that you’re running a promotion on Facebook? For instance, “Head over to our Facebook page to learn how you can win a Macbook Pro!”
It sounds like you cannot do this, but I’m unsure.
That statement and this form of “publicity” is ok– you’re encouraging people to visit your page! :)
Is this a correct assumption: you cannot ask fans of your page to determine a winner of a contest by simply “liking” a photo of their preference unless done so through a third party?
I think it sounds like that,
And so as example I thought is ok if I use like-button plugin as a vote button for some product on my 3rd party apps, so actually the like-button wasn’t actually refer to facebook assets afterall.
O please could someone clear this, its a bit bizzare
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I want to launch a competition on my business page and NOT restrict entrants by country and have it open worldwide. Our business is global and we sell all over the world. I know I’m responsible for knowing the contest guidelines in every country but I suppose thats impossible without paying a lawyer a lot of money. Is that the reason I can’t find any examples of competitions on FB that aren’t restricted by country? I was thinking of running a photo contest using a Wildfire app as I know you can’t run a sweepstake worldwide!
If you are going to post guidelines, you should ensure they are accessible. I clicked the link above and did not get any page to load. Also it does seem that no one has bothered to answer several of the comments listed above. I have had a sales person contact me rather quickly, is customer service not good here?
Customer service is fantastic at Wildfire. If you’d like to reach us, you can post a request through help.wildfireapp.com, call us up at 888-274-0929, or even live chat us during California business hours. Facebook regularly changes its promotions policy, so the post you’re looking at is related to a past update. However, if you Google Facebook Promotions Policy, you will always know that the link will take you to the newest correct place, no matter how many times Facebook changes it. Be mindful to check the dates on the blog posts you use as guidance! Cheers from Wildfire!