A pre-publish checklist for video ads: rights to images and music, truthful claims, captions, call to action, sound-off viewing and platform ad policies.
Before you publish a video ad, run one checklist that covers four things: you have the right to everything in it, every claim is true, it works with the sound off, and it meets the policies of the platform you are posting to. Skipping this step is the fastest way to have an ad rejected, an account restricted, or a complaint filed. This checklist walks through each item in order so you can clear your ad in a few minutes.
Treat it as a gate, not a formality. A rejected ad costs you the launch window; a policy strike can cost you the account. Five minutes here protects both.
You must own or be licensed to use every image, video clip, logo and piece of music in your ad. Using someone else's photo, a stock asset you have not licensed, or a popular song without a commercial licence can trigger a copyright takedown and breach platform rules on intellectual property. Platforms expect advertisers to hold the rights to their creative.
Check each asset:
MakePerfectAds builds your ad from your own product images and page and can generate a voiceover and background music for it, so there is no stock track to license. You remain responsible for confirming you have the rights to anything you upload; our terms cover generated content.
Every claim in your ad must be accurate and backed by what your product actually does and what your landing page says. Platforms prohibit deceptive or misleading advertising. Meta's Advertising Standards state that ads must not contain deceptive claims, and that the ad must match the destination; see Meta's Advertising Standards. Google's advertising policies prohibit misrepresentation, including false or misleading claims; see Google Ads policies. TikTok requires advertisers to create honest, safe and respectful ads whose creative matches the landing page; see TikTok's Ad Creatives and Landing Page policy.
Avoid:
If your ad tool checks the script against your page — MakePerfectAds flags claims your page does not support during the invite-only beta — treat that as a helper, not a substitute for your own review.
Your ad must make complete sense with no audio, because most people watch feed video muted. If the message, offer and call to action live only in the narration, the majority of viewers will miss them. Put the story on screen as captions.
The ad needs one clear call to action and a link that goes exactly where the ad promises. A mismatched or broken landing page is both a conversion killer and a policy problem — platforms require the destination to match the ad. State one action ("Shop now", "Book today", "Join the waitlist"), make sure the linked page loads fast and matches the offer, and confirm the destination works on mobile.
If your tool uses your call to action word for word — MakePerfectAds does during the beta — double-check the wording is exactly what you want, since it will appear as written.
Each platform has its own advertising policies, and your ad must meet the rules of every platform you publish to. The three big video platforms publish their standards openly and update them regularly, so check the current version on the date you publish.
| Platform | Policy to check | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Meta (Facebook/Instagram) | Advertising Standards | transparency.meta.com/policies/ad-standards |
| TikTok | Ad Creatives and Landing Page | ads.tiktok.com — Ad Creatives and Landing Page |
| YouTube | Google Ads policies | support.google.com/adspolicy |
Common cross-platform rules to watch:
Policies change. These three pages were checked on 2026-10-18; re-open them on your publish date, because platform rules are updated frequently and enforcement can be automated.
Run through this before every ad:
For the craft behind the ad itself, see video ad ideas for local businesses and ecommerce product video ads without a photoshoot. For language and caption choices, read choosing the language for your video ad.
Usually not. A song trending on a platform is not automatically cleared for commercial use in a paid ad, and the in-app consumer music library is generally not licensed for advertising. Use royalty-free or properly licensed tracks, or the background music your ad tool provides, to avoid copyright takedowns and policy breaches.
The platform can disapprove the ad so it does not run, and repeated or serious violations can lead to account restrictions or suspension. Google, for example, operates a strike system for repeat offenders. This is why checking each platform's current policies before you publish matters — see Meta's Advertising Standards, TikTok's policies and Google Ads policies.
Yes. Most feed video is watched with the sound off, so if your message and call to action are spoken only, most viewers never receive them. An ad that still sells on mute passes the most important real-world test. MakePerfectAds can add captions in many scripts, though Chinese, Japanese and Korean are not available yet.
Yes. Meta, TikTok and Google all require the ad's creative, offer and claims to match the destination page. A mismatch — a different price, a product not on the page, or a promise the page does not support — is a common reason ads are rejected. Confirm the link and the offer before publishing.
Often. All three platforms maintain change logs and update their rules regularly, and enforcement is increasingly automated. The policies referenced here were checked on 2026-10-18; always re-open the official pages on your actual publish date rather than relying on a version you read weeks ago. Join the invite-only waitlist when you are ready to create.