Good news: Facebook just simplified its Promotion Guidelines

This week Facebook modified its infamous Promotion Guidelines - you know the ones that used to state that [...]You will not communicate about or administer a promotion on Facebook if: [...] The promotion, if a sweepstakes, is open to individuals residing in Belgium, Norway, Sweden, or India; [...], causing some big Belgian brands to get their Pages temporarily disabled.

The current Facebook Promotion Guidelines still govern how companies can run or advertise sweepstakes, contests, and other promotions on the Facebook platform. The exception for Belgian Facebook Pages is fortunately gone, but the key points are still there:

• Promotions on Facebook must be administered within Apps on Facebook.com, either on a Canvas Page or an app on a Page Tab. You cannot use Facebook features or functionality as an entry mechanism. Examples: you cannot give people entries simply by liking a page.
• You must not use Facebook features or functionality, such as the Like button, as a voting mechanism for a promotion. For example, you cannot condition entry upon a person uploading a photo on a Wall, and collecting as many "likes" as possible for that photo post.
• You cannot notify winners through Facebook, such as through Facebook messages, chat, or posts on profiles or Pages., such as through Facebook messages, chat, or posts on profiles or Pages.”

Author Wesley March has summed up a few things that she thinks Page owners are still allowed to do in the context of a  contest:

1. Use Facebook to mention and provide links to contests we are holding elsewhere (unless it’s a Facebook contest; see below).
2. Continue to run “Like Me” contests on our author websites. However, we can only use Facebook to monitor the number of people who become a fan. [...] Publicity for “Like Me” contests will have to come through Twitter [...] newsletters, our own websites, etc.
3. Announce that you’ll run a contest AFTER you get a certain number of “Likes.” Then run the contest on a separate tab through the third party app or on your own website.
4. As far as I know, these rules apply only to pages. Unless it’s hidden somewhere that I haven’t seen, you can still run contests through your individual/personal accounts.

What do you think of these?

And for the Belgians: don't forget that “promotions are subject to many regulations and if you are not certain that your promotion complies with applicable law, please consult with an expert.” - especially when your contest might be an infringement of, among other things, Belgium's strict Wet op de kansspelen / Loi sur les jeux de hasard.