Facebook has issued Revised Promotions Guidelines (November 2009) to address publicizing or administering sweepstakes and contests on Facebook. Publicizing means promoting, advertising or referencing a promotion in any way on Facebook or using any part of the Facebook Platform. Administering means operating any element of the promotion on Facebook or using any part of the Facebook Platform, for example, collecting submissions or entries, conducting the drawing, judging winning entries, or notifying winners.

Some of the Guidelines are directed to both publicizing and administering promotions, for example: (a) the promotion cannot be open or marketed to individuals who are under the age of 18; (b) the promotion’s objective cannot promote gambling, tobacco, dairy, firearms, prescription drugs, or gasoline; (c) the prize offered cannot include alcohol, tobacco, dairy, firearms, or prescription drugs; and, (d) if the promotion is a sweepstakes entry cannot be conditioned on the purchase of a product, completion of a lengthy task, or other form of consideration. Further, the Guidelines contemplate international promotions by disallowing promotions that: (a) are open to individuals who reside in a country embargoed by the United States; and (b) if the promotion is a sweepstakes it is open to individuals residing in Belgium, Norway, Sweden, or India.

The Guidelines also require that the promotion’s sponsor acknowledge and agree that the promotion complies with all applicable federal, state, provincial and local laws and applicable regulatory and industry rules, regulations and guidelines.  It is of interest that industry rules are included with laws, and regulations. As would be expected, the Guidelines prohibit the use of Facebook intellectual property (name, trademarks, trade names, copyrights, or any other intellectual property) without express written consent from Facebook.

Administering promotions on Facebook requires Facebook’s prior written approval. Promotion materials must be submitted  for Facebook’s review and approval at least 7 days prior to the promotion’s start date, and unless the materials are approved in writing within the 7 day period they will be deemed unapproved. Further, the promotion must be administered through an application on the Facebook Platform as directed by Facebook.

Publicizing a promotion on Facebook that is completely administered off Facebook does not require prior written approval.

To help understand the practical impact of the Guidelines, they contain a number of “cannots” and “cans” for guidance.  So, for example, “You cannot: condition entry in the promotion upon a user providing content on Facebook, such as making a post on a profile or Page, status comment or photo upload,” but “You can: Use a third party application to condition entry to the promotion upon a user providing content. For example, you may administer a photo contest whereby a user uploads a photo through a third-party application to enter the contest.”

Throughout the Guidelines there are a number of instances where they speak to the use of “Facebook” in the rules, and that it must be made clear that the promotion is not sponsored, endorsed or administered by Facebook.

Further, Facebook reserves for itself the right to modify the Guidelines at any time without notice, but promotions will nonetheless be subject to the most current version of the Guidelines then in effect.

The above is not intended to be a complete discussion or review of the Facebook Revised Promotions Guidelines. It is intended to make our Web site visitors aware of their existence and some of their requirements.