So I’ve read a little resource about how text in images for Facebook ads are limited to only 20% of an image. It seemed confusing at first, for me. But after some research, I’ve managed to find out more about how it works.

I’d like to enumerate through pictures so for those who LOVE walls of textual content: Sorry, guys. Lots of pictures here.Here’s how the policy looks like:

For ads and sponsored stories that appear in News Feed, the amount of space the text in your image takes up may not exceed 20%. 

It’s pretty blunt.

But here are some details that can help you out.

1. The text on the products (in the product shot) doesn’t count.

facebook_eligible_ads

2. So long as these ads are supposed to appear in the News Feeds (and not the sidebar), this policy applies.

Okay, I was just trying to illustrate how it was supposed to look like...

Okay, I was just trying to illustrate how it was supposed to look like…

Now you may be wondering, “products?”, like pictures of the product?

Yes! Product shots! To illustrate:

1. Products in real life situations.

This is meant to be an example -so products in real-life situations. In this case, the food (product) that I eat (real-life situation).

This is meant to be an example -so products in real-life situations. In this case, the FOOD (product) that I EAT (real-life situation).

 

2. Products that are placed in a plain background – you know, like how they promote Red Bull amidst a white background.

Like these.. Image from SocialMedia.Orgz

Like these.. Image from SocialMedia.Orgz

3. Products zoomed in to show the logo or the image associated thereto are still covered by the 20% ad text rule.

not_eligible_facebook_ad_news_feed

Obviously, this image isn’t eligible as a Facebook News Feed Ad because the text is NOT part of the image and is considered another element. Why it isn’t eligible will be explained as you read on.

So how EXACTLY does the 20% rule work. Well to put it simply, Facebook has come up with a new tool (something they call a grid-based detection tool) that puts in 25 boxes on an image – these boxes help determine how much of the image is text.

Now, if your text covers more than 5 boxes, then it isn’t eligible as a News Feed Ad.

To illustrate, I’ll show you two images that explain how the grid system works.

facebook_ads_grid_system_eligible_ad

In this here image, the text covers at least 5 boxes. This makes it pass the 20% requirement. After all, 5 out of 25 is 20%.

facebook_not_eligible_ads

In this image, the text covers more than 5 boxes. Obviously, this does not pass the 20% requirement. Therefore, it can’t be used as an ad for the News feeds.

That’s about it for Facebook Ad’s 20% Text rule. Let me know if you have any questions. Feel free, however, to check out this link for more help.