Amazon is Shutting Down My Ads!

Book a free 25-minute call. Tell me where your book is now.

When Amazon rejects or stops your book ads, read the reason in the rejection email, fix the headline or cover it points to, and resubmit. Amazon checks the book, the cover and your custom ad text, and it says to avoid unsubstantiated claims and guarantees. Nonfiction books that make a promise, like “get better sleep” or “train your puppy in 50 days,” get hit most. Below: what happened to my ads, what the rules say, and how I protect my sales.

Why does Amazon reject or shut down book ads?

Moderators review three things: the book content, the cover art and your custom text or headline. A rejection can also come from a restricted subject area or an account problem. Amazon notes that advertising guidelines differ from retail guidelines, so a book that sells on Amazon may still not be advertisable (Amazon Ads book ad moderation guide).

For copy, the same page says to avoid unsubstantiated claims, which it describes as false promises or guarantees. It also says to leave out customer reviews and prices, and to keep the copy accurate and matching the landing page.

Health books have their own limits. Amazon Ads’ claims policy, which covers books, prohibits ads that guarantee permanent weight loss or a specific rate of weight loss, and ads for any book that includes claims to cure a high-risk disease or ailment (Amazon Ads claims and substantiation). The moderation guide also lists Self-Help and Weight Loss among the topics with advertising limitations.

I have run ads on Amazon since 2016, and they have been shown more than 200 million times. Many of my ads ran for years, and I can see on the dashboard which ones win and which lose. Some have extra text, some are just the title. About a year ago Amazon started rejecting my ads, especially for self-help books that make a promise, even though the books deliver on it. Amazon can’t know whether you are a medical expert, and it worries about a poor customer experience when a book promises a result.

What should I do when an ad is rejected?

Read the reason, then follow what Amazon says: for a headline or copy problem, edit the text and resubmit. For a cover problem, change the cover. If the book is in a restricted category, you may not be able to advertise it. If you believe it was rejected in error, contact the Amazon Ads support center (moderation guide). Approval usually takes 24 hours and can take up to three business days.

In my experience resubmitting often gets an ad through, because the next reviewer reads it differently. Some of my ads that ran for 4 to 5 years were suddenly killed. Amazon is inconsistent: it may stop the Kindle ad and leave the paperback one. It is a bit of a whack-a-mole game. I used to run about 10 ads per book, and now I split them between Kindle and paperback. See also Amazon ads for authors.

Amazon doesn’t warn you before it removes an ad. The worst case is losing your advertising account, and if you can’t advertise your books, that costs you little beyond the ads. If your sales are already slow, see why your book is not selling and how to grow KDP income fast.

Could my ads stop for a reason other than a rejection?

Yes. KDP’s ads help page says a campaign can be paused for an unpaid invoice. Its steps are to wait 12 to 24 hours after you pay, confirm the payment went through, and sign out and back in if your balance shows $0. If the campaigns are still paused after 24 hours, contact Amazon Ads support. Check this before you assume Amazon has banned you.

How do I protect my book sales from one platform’s rules?

Amazon owns the farm, so be flexible. If all your books and all your traffic depend on one platform, one rule change hurts. I teach how to format your books for several platforms, and in coaching I guide authors through the steps to get books out and keep them selling. If you are new to the platforms, see what KDP is and how beginners start and how IngramSpark works.

Stay informed. Strategies change and some only work for a window of time. I listen to other top self-publishers so I don’t break a rule by accident. Amazon is still the best place to run ads, because people are already looking for books there. Once you have a large following, Facebook and Google can help, and they have their own rejections too. Since ad prices rose as non-book sellers moved into book placements, my ads make less than they did at the start, but they still pay.

An email list is the one asset the platform can’t take. If you want help with your ads, book a free 25-minute discovery call.

Has Amazon taken down any of your ads? Tell me in the comments.

Listen to this episode on Spotify

Free 25-minute self-publishing call with Chris Baird

Tell me where your book is now. You leave the call with a clear next step for publishing it.

Book your free call

Free, 25 minutes on Zoom, no card needed.