Last month, a very large number of businesses received notification that their page recommendations were suspended by Facebook. Businesses associated in any fashion with alcohol (wineries, breweries, distilleries, meaderies, bars, restaurants, education, marketing, media, etc.) were particularly hard hit.

Since then, I’ve received several questions ranging from “What is this all about?” to “My page recommendations were just suspended. What do I do?”

Below is a primer on Facebook page recommendation suspensions.

Business page recommendation suspensions

On or about January 9^th, numerous businesses received emails and Facebook notifications stating that their page recommendations were suspended. The email said that the business “didn’t play by the rules” and did not comply with Facebook’s “Community Standards.” The latter are high-level rules against sexual, violent, profane, or hateful content. The community standards also include rules about restricted content, such as those relating to alcohol.

Within Facebook, no specific violation was given. Additionally, there was no means to appeal.

Some pages had age-restrictions lifted prior to suspension

Immediately prior to the page recommendation suspensions, some businesses reported that their age restrictions were removed. They received a notification that their pages were now being recommended to people under 18 at their request. However, the businesses did not make such a request.

Some pages appear to have been changed from 18+ or 21+ to “alcohol-related”

Some businesses stated that their age restrictions were changed. Some reported being changed from 18+ or 21+ to the category “Alcohol-related.”

A means for appeal was eventually added

On January 17, Facebook added a means for appeal. However, the implementation was confusing.

It asked why users wanted “another” review, when there had been no initial review. Additionally, while it asked for the “main reason” for an appeal, multiple options were true.

For example, if someone checked “I don’t think my content goes against the recommendation guidelines” then by definition, they are saying “I think the technology misunderstood my intent or the context of my posts.”

This left businesses with a dilemma of what to pick, with their response presumably greatly affecting the outcome of the appeal. Still, the implementation at least added a means to appeal.

Meta acknowledged a “technical error” and implemented a fix

On January 21, Meta acknowledged to Northwest Wine Report that there was a “technical error” that caused page recommendation suspensions for alcohol-related businesses. The company began to roll out a fix for the issue on that date. Meta subsequently considered the matter resolved.

Some businesses have subsequently had their Facebook page recommendations restored

Even prior to Facebook implementing a fix for the technical issue, some businesses had their page recommendations restored. Others had them restored after requesting a review once that option was made available on January 17.

Some businesses have received contradictory notifications

Some, however, have said that their appeals were denied, but when they look at their page, recommendations are restored. Others have said their appeal was successful, but their pages are still listed as suspended.

Other have reported bizarre notifications. For example, Northwest Wine Report received a message twice over the last three weeks that its birthday is in seven days.

Some businesses are still waiting for a response to their review request

A number of businesses have reported that they are still waiting for a determination from the review that they asked for. In some cases, the review request was submitted over two weeks ago. It is unclear what the time horizon might be for the review process.

Some businesses have had their page suspension reviews denied

Some businesses have asked for their page recommendation suspension to be reviewed and have had the review denied. Their pages recommendations continue to be suspended despite having age-restrictions properly set and being in compliance with Facebook’s Community Standards.

Some businesses have had page recommendations restored and then suspended again

A number of businesses have reported that they received notifications that their page recommendations were restored and then shortly thereafter they were suspended again. This is despite having age-restrictions properly set and being in compliance with Facebook’s Community Standards.

What are business page recommendations anyway?

Facebook recommends pages and posts to users who do not already follow the page. This includes “suggested for you” posts in your feed. It is the primary way, outside of follower shares and advertising, of accumulating new followers.

How to check your business page recommendation status

To check your business page recommendation status, go to your page -> Professional Dashboard -> Page Status (all the way on the right on the desktop configuration). Click on the top. This will take you to an overview of your page. Check under “Extra Features” whether your recommendations are “Active” or “Suspended.”

How to check your page’s age restrictions

To check your business page age restrictions, go to your page -> Settings -> Followers and Public Content -> Age Restrictions.

If your page posts about alcohol-related content, the setting should be set to “alcohol-related.” If it is not, your page recommendations are likely to be suspended. Note that I recommend the “alcohol-related” setting instead of “18+” or “21+” if your page/posts about alcohol.

PLEASE NOTE that if you add new age restrictions, your page will automatically be removed from any groups that it is part of. This includes groups that you might own. Pages with age restrictions cannot be part of groups.

What should I do if my business page recommendations are suspended?

First, if you are an alcohol-related business, make sure that age restrictions are properly set for your page as described above. Next, if you are able, ask for a review. You should see this option when you check your page recommendation status if page recommendations are currently suspended. If you are not able to ask for a review and your page recommendations are suspended, unfortunately, there is nothing to be done.

If you are unable to ask for a review, or if your review is denied, your page recommendations might still come back. Facebook’s algorithms continually review pages and content. However, I have also heard from businesses that have had their page recommendations suspended for many months.

Editor’s Note: The Facebook page suspension issue has been extremely costly to cover. I have not paywalled any of the content given the size of the problem and the number of businesses impacted. If you have found value in this coverage and you are not already a subscriber, please consider subscribing for a month or six or a year. It’s the only way that I’ll be able to continue covering this issue.

NOTE: Is your business still experiencing Facebook page recommendation suspension issues? If so, please comment below or email [email protected] and describe the issue.

Update 2/16/25: Northwest Wine Report had its page recommendations suspended on February 6. (This was the second time.) Recommendations were restored February 13. Later that day, I received notification that my review request had been denied and that recommendations would not be restored. My recommendations are still listed as active, however. This is consistent with the experience of others described above.

Background links

Facebook’s Page Recommendation Guidelines

Meta’s Restricted Goods and Services Policy

Meta’s Restricted Goods and Services Policy Regarding Alcohol

Facebook’s Community Standards

Meta’s Alcohol Advertising Policy

Meta’s Commerce Policy Regarding Alcohol

Facebook page recommendation suspension (Lunabean Media)

Previous articles about the Facebook page recommendation suspension issue

Faceblock: How Facebook algorithms disrupted an entire industry (April 3, 2026)

Where the Facebook page recommendation suspension issue stands (January 27, 2026)

Facebook shows signs of life (sort of) with page recommendation issue (January 18, 2026)

Meta’s silence on page recommendation suspensions deafening (January 16, 2026)

On Facebook page recommendations (January 15, 2026)

What’s going on at Meta? (January 14, 2026)

Meta changes sow confusion, concern in wine industry (January 11, 2026)

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