Restriction period for ads about social issues, elections or politics before the US 2026 Midterm Election

In February, we announced that, as we have since 2020, we will block new social issue, electoral, and political ads during the final week leading up to Election Day in the US (12:01 AM PT on October 27, 2026 through 11:59 PM PT on November 3, 2026). While new ads will not be able to run during this restriction period, ads that have run prior to the restriction period and served at least one impression will be allowed to continue running during this time 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 restriction period

• Timeframe: The restriction period will run from 12:01 AM PT on Tuesday, October 27, 2026 through 11:59 PM PT on Tuesday, November 3, 2026.
• Eligibility to run: If an ad about social issues, elections or politics serves an impression before the restriction period goes into effect, it will be eligible to run during the restriction period.
• Delayed impression recording: Although ads about social issues, elections, or politics that serve an impression before the restriction period goes into effect are eligible to run during the restriction period, our systems may take between 6-24 hours to record an impression. Because of this, we encourage advertisers to launch their ads well ahead of the restriction period in order to avoid this scenario.
  • For example, if an ad delivers its first impression on Monday, October 26, our systems may not immediately indicate that the ad is eligible to run during the restriction period.
  • As a result, it may take time on Tuesday, October 27 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.
• Editing an ad: 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 October 27, 2026. No other editing capabilities are permitted, which includes not allowing edits related to creative, placement, targeting, or optimization.
  • Note: If you make any edit that sends your ad back into ad review (for example, a change to audience targeting) and the edited ad doesn’t serve at least one impression with that edit applied before the restriction period goes into place, the ad won’t be able to run during the restriction period. This means you should avoid making these types of edits right before the restriction period goes into effect.

What is allowed during the restriction period?

What you can do during the restriction period for eligible ads that have already served at least one impression:

• Edit bid amount, budget and schedule
• Pause and unpause eligible ads

What you cannot do during the restriction period for eligible ads without risking your ad’s ability to run during the remainder of the restriction period:

• Edit certain aspects of eligible ads, such as ad creative (including ad copy, image/video assets, website URL, Call-to-action button)
• Edit targeting, placement (including placement controls under account controls), optimization or campaign objective
• Remove, switch or add a disclaimer

Plan ahead

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 13, 2026: 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 20, 2026: Create your issue, electoral or political ads, in order to ensure that your ads are live and have delivered at least 1 impression with a valid disclaimer before 12:01 AM PT on Tuesday, October 27, 2026.
• Between Tuesday, October 27, 2026 and Tuesday, November 3, 2026: 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 27 through 11:59 PM PT on Tuesday, November 3, 2026.
• At 12:00 AM PT on Wednesday, November 4, 2026: 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 advertising best practices to properly prepare ahead of time.