How to pass moderation in Yandex.Direct for "white" and prohibited offers

Yandex.Direct is a unified platform for placing contextual and display advertising. To promote offers on this platform, it is necessary to use various types of ads, such as text-graphic, graphic, video, dynamic, or search banners. In any case, ads are creative materials that, through a short headline, description, and image, encourage users to take specific actions.

Before launching an advertising campaign, Yandex.Direct conducts moderation, which involves reviewing all the ads you upload to ensure compliance with platform rules. To pass moderation smoothly and without headaches, it is necessary to know a few things.

The moderation of advertising consists of two stages: automated algorithms and manual review by a moderator. First, approximately 50 automated filters examine the created ads for compliance with Yandex rules. They check for keywords, spelling errors, stop words, spam, technical parameters of images, and so on. If any of the platform's requirements are violated, the ad will be rejected.

If no issues arise during the first stage, the ad will be approved for display. However, moderation does not end there. Even the approved ads are reviewed by a human, who may identify violations that were missed by the automated system. In such cases, even ads that are already being shown to users will be disabled.

It is important to note that even automated review can take 2-3 days. Furthermore, even ads that have passed moderation are not immune to being banned. After the start of ad impressions, the algorithms continue to monitor them in automated mode for compliance with the rules.

If you are working with "white" offers, you shouldn't encounter significant problems or difficulties in passing moderation. The main condition is to comply with Yandex's rules and requirements for ad formatting.

How to pass moderation with "gray" and prohibited offers in Yandex.Direct? There are a few recommendations that can help you do so. However, keep in mind that they have a temporary effect, as moderators will soon detect your manipulations and ban your account. Therefore, from the very beginning, prepare multiple accounts (the more, the better) and distribute your advertising budget among them.

What can you do to pass moderation with a prohibited offer?

Here are a few methods to try in order to pass moderation with a prohibited offer:

Submit ads during nighttime (approximately from 22:00 to 0:00). Manual moderation is not conducted during the night, so there is a chance that the algorithms might overlook your ad. However, it will still be reviewed by a human and may potentially be rejected.
Delete the advertising campaign and create a new one. Export the campaign to an Excel file, delete it in Yandex.Direct, and then remove the ID of keywords, ads, and campaign codes from the file. Next, upload the campaign to Yandex.Direct and wait for moderation approval. You may need to repeat this process several times before your campaign is approved.
Use substitution through redirects. This method is more complex, and moderators may eventually ban not only the advertising campaign but the entire account. This option is suitable only for those who anticipate generating significant quality traffic before being banned, which can cover their expenses. To substitute, you need to purchase a new domain and quality paid hosting. It's best if the domain name contains a keyword related to the offer being advertised. Find a website in Yandex search results that displays the desired ad, then create an index.php file with a 301 redirect, which will redirect the verifying bots to the previously chosen "good" website. After that, create a new campaign in Yandex.Direct and submit several ads for moderation. If everything goes well, replace the redirect with the landing page you originally intended to advertise.
Replace keywords. After successfully passing moderation, you can modify the keywords using the Yandex.Direct web interface by clicking on the selected keyword in the ad. This way, the word will change, and it won't undergo another review.
Submit ads from different accounts. This method exploits vulnerabilities in automated moderation. Submit identical ads from different accounts at different times of the day. There is a chance that some of them will be approved.

When creating ads and creatives, it is important to know the requirements set by Yandex.Direct. There are general rules as well as specific conditions for each ad format. Some of the common mistakes to avoid in text ads include:

• Using Caps Lock for the headline or text.
• Including advertiser's contact information.
• Presence of codes or special characters.
• Errors or typos.
• Comparative or superlative adjectives.
• Extra spaces or missing spaces.
• Presence of stop words from the Yandex dictionary (e.g., alcohol, weapons, etc.).

Therefore, even if you are promoting "gray" or prohibited offers through Yandex.Direct, ensure that the meaning of the text in the ad is understandable to the target audience while avoiding any platform restrictions.

When creating an ad, it is essential to familiarize yourself with the technical limitations regarding the allowed character count. Additionally, note that Yandex.Direct does not allow the following in the text:

• Slang, jargon, offensive, and vulgar language.
• Aggressive calls to action.
• Encouragement of cruelty or violence.
• Repetition of the same phrases.
• Contact information, phone numbers, and email addresses in quick links and text.
• Foreign words without translation (except for trademarks).
• Prices specified in foreign currencies.

If you are advertising products or services related to games, music, movies, events, books, magazines, TV or radio shows, databases, or computer software, you need to use an age restriction label. It can be "18+" or another age, depending on the specific content you are promoting.

Text and image ads have the following requirements for images:

• High-quality image.
• Relevance to the landing page content.
• Watermarks should occupy no more than 20% of the image.
• Empty areas should also not exceed 20% of the image.
• Buttons on the image should correspond to the action they encourage.

What elements are not allowed on the images?

• Competitors' logos or products.
• Prohibited services or products.
• Advertiser's contact information.
• Elements of the search engine's design.

Banners are ads in the form of an image with a short headline and text on it. Unlike images in text-graphic ads, here you can use company logos and contact information. What does Yandex.Direct require from banners?

They should have:

• Contrasting text and background (make sure they are easy to perceive).
• Non-transparent background.
• A frame around the banner that differs in color from the banner itself.
• Images and graphic elements without deformation or added noise that would hinder moderation.
• Sufficient time for reading the text in animated banners (applies to GIF and other animation formats).

The landing page where you direct users should correspond to the content and essence of the ad. In other words, if you attract attention through discounts, promotions, specific products, or services, the information about them should be present on the landing page. Additionally, there are several technical requirements. The landing page should:

• Open in a new tab or window.
• Function correctly in all browsers.
• Not collect users' personal information through deceptive means.
• Display the contact information of the landing page owner if data collection is involved.
• Not have redirects leading to suspicious websites or malicious code.
• Not include pop-up blocks.
• Not consist of more than 50% advertising on the initial screen.

Furthermore, if the landing page is written in a foreign language, the ad should indicate that as a warning.

In order to pass moderation in Yandex.Direct without any issues, your advertising campaigns should comply with the platform's requirements. However, practice shows that with the right skills, it is possible to bypass the attention of moderators and advertise almost any offer. Of course, the methods used to promote prohibited offers do not guarantee a long lifespan for your campaigns or ads. They may help you obtain traffic "here and now." Therefore, if you plan to use Yandex.Direct to drive traffic, consider from the beginning what you want to work with. This will determine your expenses, the complexity of passing moderation, and the number of bans you may encounter.