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This guide is not an endorsement to send custom events or use Elevar for the purpose of ignoring Meta's restricted events. This guide is for those who understand the risks and are complying to Meta's terms of service.

Overview

Meta has recently implemented changes that restrict certain lower-funnel events that limit the ability to optimize campaigns.

Understanding Meta’s Restricted Events:

Meta's restriction focuses on those in the Health and Wellness category and their lower-funnel events. When these events are restricted, you may lose the ability to optimize ads for them.

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Prefer to Watch a Video?

Watch this video for an in-depth discussion around the Meta event restrictions and a detailed walk-through of the two options outlines below.

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Key Considerations Before Proceeding:

Before attempting any of the following options, ensure that you understand the following:

• Legal Compliance: Any decision to modify event tracking should align with Meta’s Terms of Service and data policies.
• Risk of Account Suspension: Sending custom events that circumvent restrictions may result in penalties, including ad account bans.
• PII (Personally Identifiable Information) Risks: Consider stripping out sensitive customer data is important to avoid violating Meta’s policies.

Option 1: Sending a Custom Purchase Event (Client-Side)

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Risks Involved:

If you choose to send a custom purchase event client-side (as shown in the video), understand that Meta may still detect the event and classify it as non-compliant leading to an account violation.

Modify the Facebook Purchase Event:

• Begin in your Google Tag Manager homepage and use the left-hand navigational menu to click on the "Tags" tab. Locate and click on the "Facebook - Purchase" tag. For a complete walk through, see the attached video.
• Navigate to the section of the window titled "HTML".
  • Locate the fbq('trackSingle', '{{Facebook - Pixel ID}}', 'Purchase', { and insert a space above this line. Then, go to the end of the entire code and insert a space at the bottom.
  • Duplicate this section by copying it and pasting it below into the space at the bottom. Ensure that the brackets and syntax remain intact.
  • In the duplicated section of code, change the fbq('trackSingle' to fbq('trackSingleCustom'. Then be sure to change the name of the event, for example changing 'Purchase' to 'PurchaseCustom'
    • (See Figure 1)

_Figure 1_

Strip Out PII:

• Navigate to the fbq('init', '{{Facebook - Pixel ID}}', { call line.
  • From the original code, remove any of the information that may contain PII. This includes the external ID, email, Google Analytics ID, phone number, first name, last name, city, province code, zip, and country code.
  • From the duplicated section, remove any identifiable information related to what you are selling. This includes the content IDs, content type, content name, and content category.
    • (See Figure 2)

_ Figure 2_

Validate the Implementation:

• Save the tag and publish the changes in your Google Tag Manager workspace.
• Check Events Manager in Meta’s Business Suite to confirm the custom event is firing correctly.

Option 2: Server-Side Tracking via Elevar

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Risks Involved:

If you choose to enable customer purchase events for your Facebook destination in Elevar, understand that Elevar currently does not allow you to strip out PII which increases the risk because Meta may still classify them under the restricted categories.

Access Facebook Destination:

• Begin on the Elevar homepage and use the left-hand navigational menu to click on the "My Tracking" tab. Locate and click on your Facebook destination.
  • (See Figure 3)

_Figure 3_

Enable Customer Purchase Events:

• Once in the Facebook destination, use the "Setup Step" box and click on the "Events" tab. For more details see the attached video.
  • Locate and click on the "Customize settings" button. Then, navigate to the section titled "Breakdown" and use the drop-down to expand the customizable events.
  • Use the check boxes to enable the "New Customer Purchase" and "Returning Customer Purchase" event options.
  • Once you have entered the required information, click on the "Save" button located at the bottom of the page.
    • (See Figure 4)

_Figure 4_