Facebook contests are governed by a number of rules that are designed to protect users and prevent spamming. You may have seen a posts on your timeline prompting you to share a page to win something, or even your friends tagged in a promotional image – both of these are not allowed according to Facebook’s competition rules.

This handy infographic shows the basic do’s and don’ts for Facebook promotions (contests, sweepstakes etc):

original_illegal-facebook

 

Now the question is, are any of your competitions breaking any of the above rules? For the most part, you’re probably getting away with breaking one or two of the above rules as Facebook cannot moderate the thousands of apps created on the platform everyday, but to protect yourself from user complaints and the occasional Facebook compliance test, you should make sure your app complies with the above rules.

If you are caught breaking a rule, Facebook will usually give you a few days to get your application compliant, but if you’re a repeat offender, your account or page may be suspended without warning.