That drop-off pattern you’re describing — best-performing ad going cold, then finding a string of negative comments when you dig in — is really common with skincare ads specifically. The algorithm picks up on negative engagement signals and starts pulling back delivery, so those comments didn’t just affect conversions directly, they likely triggered the slowdown too. You’re dealing with two separate problems at once: a potential fake account or competitor, and an ad that’s been algorithmically suppressed as a result.
Since you couldn’t match the person to any order in Shopify — no name, no email, no purchase history — that tells you almost everything. Real customers who have a problem almost always leave a trace. No order match means you’re almost certainly dealing with a bot, a fake account, or a competitor. Treat it accordingly.
For the moderation side, here’s what actually works without checking Meta every hour:
Meta’s Moderation Assist feature acts as a virtual moderator that uses your predefined rules to automatically hide unwanted content. You can set it to hide comments containing specific keywords, block spam automatically, and filter comments based on user activity or connection status. To set it up, go to your Facebook Page’s professional dashboard, find Moderation Assist in the left menu, and click through to configure it. One of the default suggestions is hiding comments from users who have no connections at all — which catches a lot of bot activity right there without you having to do anything manually.
On top of that, use the Page-level keyword blocking and profanity filter. When enabled, comments containing your blocked words are hidden automatically and this setting extends to your ads as well. Add words like “scam,” “fake,” “fraud,” and anything else you’ve been seeing to that list. It takes about 10 minutes to set up and then runs quietly in the background.
For the operational triage between real customers and trolls:
Create a simple internal rule for your team of two — a comment only becomes a real support case if the person can provide an order number or a matching email. One calm public reply — “Sorry to hear this, please DM us your order details and we’ll sort it out straight away” — and then leave it there. Real customers come back with details. Trolls and bots almost always disappear after that one response. That single reply also signals to everyone else reading the comments that you’re responsive and professional, which actively helps conversion rather than hurting it.
On hiding versus deleting — use hide rather than delete where possible. The comment disappears from public view but stays stored on Meta’s end, and the commenter isn’t notified. Deleting can sometimes escalate things if the person notices and decides to come back harder or screenshot it.
On the ad itself:
If it’s been sitting suppressed for 48+ hours it’s probably worth duplicating the ad set and relaunching with the same creative rather than trying to revive the original. Once an ad accumulates enough negative engagement signals the algorithm tends to keep suppressing it even after the bad comments are removed. A fresh ad set resets that signal entirely. Also pin your strongest genuine customer reviews as comments under your best-performing ads — positive social proof sitting at the top of the comments section is the first thing new visitors see and it sets the tone before anyone else does.
You’re already thinking about this the right way — checking Shopify first before treating it as a real complaint is exactly the right instinct. Hope this helps and good luck with the recovery.