Cannabis Businesses Are Suffering From Facebook, Instagram, Google and Youtube's Strict Advertising Rules On Cannabis
It's no surprise that Cannabis Businesses are suffering from Facebook, Instagram, Google and Youtube's extremely strict advertising rules on cannabis. Whether it's a hemp product, CBD product, it's cultivation or even just talking about anything Cannabis related.
Entrepreneur Mike Goose, whose company - Let There Be Hemp makes tortilla chips from hemp seeds is one of those businesses.
Mike Goose, a 41-year-old entrepreneur who owns a New York-based company that makes tortilla chips out of hemp seeds, has said his company’s ads have been rejected by Facebook since 2019 for violating its ban on ads for “illegal products or services.”
Mike then questioned Facebook about the issue, however he was told via email that even though his ads weren't necessarily promoting an illegal substance, “at times some content may get detected related to content that has been marked as unsafe”. Evidently this ban has made it very difficult to lure in new customers.
“Our biggest issue right now is our ability to get our name out there. Facebook ads are important for a business like this because we don’t have major budgets.”
Mike states the platform’s ability to quickly and efficiently target customers based on location, interests and likes made promoting on the platform particularly attractive as an advertising medium.
A recent survey found an astonishing 66% of small businesses in the US use Facebook for advertising, while 41% use Instagram.
“Facebook ads are important for a business like mine as we don’t have major budgets.” Mike Goose, Let There Be Hemp
Ohio-based Hemp Gelato Maker - Wonderlab's Doosy Pots has discovered that the term 'plant-based' instead of 'hemp-based' causes their ads being approved by Facebook. But In doing so, it's actually made it more difficult for the Gelato shop to stand out from their competitors.
“Our competitors, if they’re using coconut or a cashew base, they can talk about the benefits,” Karl Sutaria told The Post. “We can’t talk about hemp in our ads. It’s an unfair disadvantage to us.”In 2019, another entrepreneur sued Facebook in the US over its advertising ban. The lawsuit claimed that Facebook, "wrongfully censored" ads for an online conference about cannabis. The suit was later dismissed. Meta (Facebook's parent company) has yet to respond to the New York Post's request to comment.