Ran a lot of Facebook Pages through the monetization gauntlet over the past few years, and the pattern is always the same: people get rejected from in-stream ads or fan subs, blame "the algorithm," and quit. The actual reasons are almost always fixable:

1. They chase reach, not watch time. A viral post with 2M views and 8-second average watch time is worthless for monetization. Meta pays for retention. A post with 50K views and 2-minute average watch time will out-earn it every time.

2. They post native video inconsistently. Monetization eligibility is a rolling window, not a one-time checkbox. Pages that post 4-5 native videos a week for 60 days get approved. Pages that post sporadically don't — even with the same total view count.

3. They mix content formats and confuse the algorithm's classifier. Reels, Stories, and long-form video get evaluated differently. Pages that stick to ONE primary format while building authority monetize faster than pages spreading thin across all of them.

4. They never diversify revenue once approved. In-stream ads alone cap out fast. The pages actually hitting $10K/month are stacking in-stream ads + fan subscriptions + branded content + direct offers — not relying on one lever.

None of this requires paid ads or some secret hack. It requires a system and someone checking your numbers weekly so you catch what's working before you waste another month guessing. That's the whole reason we started Foxy Media Ads Lab — happy to answer questions on any of the above in the comments.