Have you prepared a promising ad campaign only to see its status change to Declined immediately after submission? Many advertisers encounter this during their first campaigns. A minor formatting error or a mismatch in channel settings can stop traffic and disrupt the schedule. This article explains the review requirements your Telegram Ads campaign must meet to pass moderation on the first attempt.
When you launch a Telegram Ads campaign, passing moderation comes down to a few clear structural rules. We often see advertisers lose hours to rejected submissions. The cause is usually a single overlooked formatting rule.
Follow these core Telegram Ads requirements before launch:
Prepare creatives correctly from the outset, and the campaign will not get stuck in review. Once the copy length, links, and media meet the standards, the ad can move to Active without an extra round of review.
Section 5 of the Telegram Ads guidelines defines exactly 12 prohibited content categories. They include weapons, explosives, drugs, gambling, uncertified medical services, spam software, and hate speech. Cryptocurrency is a common source of confusion. Advertisers look for a dedicated cryptocurrency clause, find no explicit reference, and conclude that any Web3 offer is automatically allowed.
In practice, the review process works differently. Cryptocurrency and fintech offers fall under general rules 5.4 and 5.7, which prohibit deceptive practices and harmful financial products or services. A campaign containing aggressive claims or undisclosed financial risks moves directly from In Review to Declined. The launch then stops while you spend hours rewriting the copy, rechecking the destination, and waiting through another round of manual moderation.
Formatting errors cause similar delays in sensitive categories. Marketers overuse capitalization and symbols for visual impact, and that violates the editorial guidelines. Decorative icons are not prohibited outright. The rules restrict intrusive, excessive, or gimmicky emoji use and unnatural styling such as erratic capitalization. Copy consisting of all-caps lines or repeated icons is rejected under the editorial guidelines.
Before launch, check both the ad copy and the destination channel against these standards. Financial offers require clear disclosures without misleading claims, while the formatting should remain clean and readable. These checks reduce the risk of a correctable detail disrupting the entire schedule.
Imagine this: you prepare a campaign, paste the channel link into the Telegram Ads account, set your bid, save, and wait for review, and a few minutes later the status changes to Declined. Moderation assesses more than the text: even a compliant creative can be rejected because the channel or bot is not ready.
To avoid wasted time, run through this destination checklist before submitting the ad:
Most destination rejections trace back to one of these five points.
When a campaign receives the Declined status, separate the creative elements that can be corrected from the settings that cannot be changed. The Telegram Ads interface uses five official statuses: Stopped, In Review, Declined, Active, and On Hold. A prompt response limits the loss of traffic.
After a campaign is declined, its audience settings cannot be edited. The interface locks those parameters once the ad is saved. Follow these recovery steps:
Duplicating the draft is faster than trying to work around locked fields, as the new ad can enter review immediately.
How long does Telegram Ads moderation take?
Telegram does not publish an official review time. The Adstat FAQ gives up to 48 hours as a general reference point, although ambiguous copy and sensitive categories can take longer to review.
Can I promote cryptocurrency projects through Telegram Ads?
The Telegram Ads guidelines do not contain a dedicated prohibited category for crypto. However, crypto offers are evaluated under the general rules against deceptive practices and harmful financial products or services.
What payment methods and currencies are supported for running ads?
Campaigns can be funded in three ways: by bank transfer in euros through advertising partners, with cryptocurrency in a TON account, or through a Stars account. The TON account uses Gram, which was called Toncoin until June 2026, although the interface still displays TON.
Can I change targeting settings after an ad is approved?
No. Once the ad is saved, you cannot change targeting or switch the conversion event. The budget can be both increased and decreased. To adjust targeting, create a new campaign.
Once the creative and destination are ready for review, the remaining tasks are to choose the account and plan the budget. The account type determines the available media formats and payment methods, while the minimum bid also depends on the selected targeting. Fund the account only after completing the preparation: under the platform terms, the balance cannot be transferred to another account, and an unspent balance can be returned only by requesting it through the reseller, which keeps its fee on the amount already spent.
Account type and targetingMinimum CPMEuro account: topics, interests, subscribers€0.7Euro account: specific channels, bots, keywords€0.15 (cut from €1 in August 2026)TON account: crypto payments0.1 TON
According to market data from February 2026, the base minimum CPM is €0.7 for broad categories: user interests, channel subscribers, and topics. Since late August 2026, the minimum for targeting specific channels, bots, or search keywords has been €0.15: the platform reduced it from €1, making narrow targeting cheaper than broad targeting.
The TON and Stars accounts are simplified accounts for self-service access: they provide neither invoicing nor bank payments, so businesses requiring formal payment processes use euro accounts opened by partners. The minimum CPM in a TON account is 0.1 TON.
The review itself does not depend on how the account was opened: the requirements for text and destination are the same across all account types. The working terms are what differ. A direct contract with Telegram is available to the largest market players and starts at 2 million euros; everyone else works through authorized resellers and agencies, receiving a corporate account, invoicing, and bank payment options. Adstat combines the reseller role with an analytics and automation layer built on top of the corporate account.