Adjustment of Facebook Advertising Agency Rebate Policy

Recently, there have been rumors that Facebook's rebate policy would be adjusted, offering different rebate policies for clients with direct client service teams and those without. However, these have only been rumors without any official statement.

In the recent quarter, many Facebook agents might have felt a chill, especially with changes in the rebate policy.

Starting from the third quarter Q3, many second-generation Facebook agents have seen a decrease in rebates from first-generation agents. This situation is not uncommon, as rebate policies are often closely related to KPI achievements and compliance issues.

Some first-generation agents also did not receive good rebate incentives in Q3 due to poor KPI achievements and high compliance issues. When these indicators perform poorly, rebate incentives naturally suffer.

Let's first understand the different types of advertisers' cooperation with the Facebook platform:

First-generation agent: Also known as IM, In Market, which are large entities with direct client management;

In Market agents mainly serve large markets and high-budget clients. IM agents usually serve top brands and multinational companies, capable of handling complex advertising needs and directly managing client relationships.

Second-generation agent: Also known as MM, Mid Market, which are medium-sized entities with direct client management;

Mid Market agents focus on medium-sized markets and medium-sized business clients. MM agents usually serve clients with smaller budgets but still require professional advertising management.

The initially circulated Facebook agent rebate policy was as follows:

Direct client sign-up - agency representation: Rebate will drop to 0.5%;

Advertising clients sign contracts directly with Facebook, but the advertising account and specific operations are managed by the agent (IM or MM).

Direct client cooperation & agency cooperation: Rebate will be 3%;

Direct client cooperation: Clients directly cooperate with MM or IM, with the advertising account and strategy managed by the agent.

Agency cooperation: MM acts as a second-level agent, assisting clients in advertising through the authorization and support of IM.

Non-direct clients: Rebate will be between 4%-10%, depending on the agent's performance and account closure rate in 2024.

Advertising clients do not directly cooperate with Facebook officials or first-level agents but are entirely through second-level agents.

The most affected are e-commerce clients who rely heavily on rebates, as their profit points may come from rebates. The cancellation or reduction of rebates deeply impacts these clients, while some gray market clients might be less affected, as overseas accounts and unrestricted accounts have mostly been paid studies and have generally run smoothly.

In the last few days approaching the end of 2024, first-generation agents could no longer hold back and began to push forward the new year's rebate policy, which can now be confirmed:

IM+MM rebate: Reduced to 3%

Non-direct client management team rebate: Reduced to 6%

This is similar to the circulated rebate policy, and first-generation agents will continue to be assessed based on compliance rates and consumption, which means some gray market clients will receive significantly reduced rebates;

As for white-label clients, even if they receive top-tier rebates, it will be vastly different from the previous rebate policies.

If this policy is indeed implemented, it will undoubtedly be a heavy blow to Facebook agents.

Strategies for Facebook Agents

Facing such changes, agents will need to reevaluate their business models and profit strategies.

They may need to find new sources of income or improve service quality to attract more direct client cooperation.

At the same time, agents also need to focus more on compliance to ensure the completion of KPIs and reduce compliance issues, thereby obtaining higher rebate incentives.

In addition to changes in rebate policies, Facebook agents also need to pay attention to the latest developments in non-direct client management.

According to a well-known industry insider, Facebook may require accounts managed by non-direct clients to undergo real-name verification before use, and this policy is still being tested.

Facebook advertising clients included in the trial program will receive a notification to complete verification, meaning that at least one administrator of the Facebook advertising account needs to confirm their identity with a government-issued ID to obtain permission to publish ads.

Facebook will also begin to adjust rebates for real-money products, and advertising controls will become stricter. This means that whether it's proxy投 channels or other agency profits, there will be a significant reduction, and in such a competitive market, if a price war starts, everyone will lose money.

Looking at the entire overseas industry, there really aren't many better options. Relatively speaking, white-label products currently have little profit for many operators, and with the current reduction in points, if advertisers are unwilling to increase prices to share profits, proxy投 will basically lose money.

White-label clients, especially e-commerce, have always relied heavily on rebates, and their profits may mainly come from rebates. The cancellation or reduction of rebates deeply impacts these clients.

For some gray market clients, the impact might be relatively better, as this year's Facebook overseas accounts and Facebook unrestricted accounts have mostly been paid studies and have generally run smoothly.

Facebook Agents Need to Pay Attention: Non-standard Channels May Rise

Currently, Facebook agents face multiple challenges, from changes in rebate policies to requirements for real-name verification, all requiring agents to adjust their strategies promptly to adapt to the new market environment.

They either need to improve service quality, strengthen compliance, and adapt to new policy requirements, or they may need to pay attention to opportunities in other media channels, starting from specific regional markets to find better advertising channels.

1. Content Marketing Platforms

Blogs and forums cooperate or establish their own blogs and communities, sharing content related to gambling or gaming tips, embedding promotional links.

Utilize user-generated content (such as videos, game strategies, etc.), indirectly attracting users to download and participate. For example: Reddit, Quora, Tieba, and other hot gambling discussion areas.

2. Self-built Sites and SEO Optimization

Build promotional websites, focus on SEO optimization, improve the search ranking of gambling-related keywords, and attract traffic from search engines.

Or through APK distribution sites: Publish real-money games through third-party app markets.

3. Influencer and KOL Marketing

Cooperation with small and medium-sized influencers: Choose influencers with a high overlap with the target users of gambling (such as game streamers, entertainment bloggers), and conduct low-profile dissemination in a policy-skirting manner.

4. Social Groups and Private Domain Traffic

Instant messaging tools: Form interest groups on platforms like WhatsApp, Telegram, sharing promotions and activities. Through Pinterest, Line, and other private domain traffic pools, offer exclusive activities and services to attract users.

Summary

With the decline in Facebook rebate policies, real-money game advertisers are likely to face higher advertising cost pressures, forcing them to reevaluate and optimize their advertising strategies.

With reduced rebates, advertisers may need to focus more on the precision and attractiveness of advertising creativity to enhance click-through rates and conversion rates, while avoiding resource wastage.

In addition, exploring more non-standard channels or expanding multi-platform advertising can diversify the risks of a single platform. Although the reduction in rebates increases the difficulty of advertising, it also forces the industry to operate more finely in terms of user acquisition and retention, thereby enhancing overall competitiveness and revenue stability in the long run.