The Telegram Ads Platform handbook — every setting, every gotcha

Go to core.telegram.org ads.telegram.org ↗ . Sign in with your Telegram account. Add a billing method — credit card or TON wallet. The account is global; one account can run ads in any country/language.

Top up with €100 minimum to unlock most features (some category targeting requires €500+ on the balance).

Each ad routes to one of:

• Channel — @yourchannel (most common for growth)
• Public group — same syntax (rarely used; groups don’t grow well from ads)
• Bot — @yourbot with optional start parameter for attribution: @yourbot?start=ad_q2_a
• Bot with command — @yourbot?start= then a value you parse server-side
• Specific message — t.me/yourchannel/123 (for promoting a single post)
• Mini App — t.me/yourbot/app?startapp=ad_q2_a (with start_param for attribution)

The start_param mechanism is the only attribution Telegram gives you. Use a unique value per ad creative. You’ll want this in step 7.

You can layer:

• Languages — multi-select. Match your ad copy language.
• Topics — Telegram’s categorization of channels (Crypto, Tech, News, Lifestyle, etc.). Your ad shows in channels in those topics.
• Specific channels — comma-separated list of @handles. Most precise.
• Excluded channels — channels where you don’t want to appear (your competitors, generally).
• Country — by user’s account country.

The killer move: combine Topics (broad reach) with a specific channels list of 50-200 channels you’ve manually vetted as “audience match.” This delivers 5-10× the CTR of pure topic targeting.

160 characters. UTF-8, so emojis count as 2-3 chars. Markdown is not supported. URLs and @mentions inside the text body are not allowed (they go in the destination only).

What works in Q1 2026:

• Outcome + proof + soft CTA: “5,000 founders read our weekly Telegram playbook. Join free.”
• Curiosity + brevity: “We tested 47 cold-email tools. Only 3 are still live in 2026.”
• Calendar trigger: “April changes to Telegram Ads — what’s new for advertisers.”

What doesn’t:

• ALL CAPS, screaming punctuation
• Vague benefits (“best community ever”)
• Salesy language (“Buy now! 50% off!”)

Telegram’s review team rejects pretty aggressively. Plan for 1-2 rounds of “policy violation” rejections on your first ads.

Two modes:

• CPM mode — set max CPM you’ll pay. Telegram serves up to your daily budget at or below that bid. Good for steady growth.
• CPC mode (added late 2024) — set max CPC. Telegram only charges on click, but throttles delivery. Good when CTR is uncertain.

Start CPM mode at €1 CPM for general categories, €4 CPM for crypto/finance. Budget €5/day per ad to gather signal — €100/day per campaign once an ad is proven.

Ads go through manual review. SLA is “up to 7 days” — in practice 6-72 hours. Common rejection reasons:

• Claims you can’t substantiate (“Best ROI in the industry”)
• Implied urgency that isn’t real (“Last chance!”)
• Categories Telegram doesn’t allow (gambling without license, adult, ICOs without disclosure)
• Targeting that overlaps your destination’s category in ways policy disallows (rare)

If rejected, you get a category code; rewrite and resubmit. Budgets aren’t lost.

The Ads Platform dashboard shows: impressions, clicks, CTR, CPC, spend.

It does not show: subscribers gained, bot starts, Mini App installs, conversions. You instrument those yourself:

• Channel subscribers — diff getChat(chat_id).members_count daily and attribute deltas to running ads (rough).
• Bot starts — read start_param on every /start payload, save to your DB.
• Mini App installs — same with initData.start_param.
• Telegram Premium subscribers gained — not exposed; estimate from total subs growth × Premium fraction (~5-12%).

The lack of native attribution is the single biggest weakness of the platform. Build your own dashboard from day one — operators who don’t end up flying blind by month two.