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Google is broadening its enforcement of gambling advertising rules, extending stricter certification requirements across every category covered by its Gambling and Games policy beginning September 14, 2026.
The change expands a certification framework that Google initially introduced earlier in the year. Going forward, every advertiser seeking to run gambling or gaming-related ads must demonstrate strong policy compliance before certification will be granted or maintained.
The most significant shift targets advertisers with a history of policy violations, particularly those operating through Manager Accounts (MCCs).
Under the updated policy:
- All gambling and games advertisers will be required to maintain good policy health to qualify for certification.
- Manager Accounts (MCCs) that repeatedly lose online gambling certifications—or oversee accounts that repeatedly violate Google’s gambling policies while operating under a certification—could become ineligible to apply for future online gambling certificates.
- Google also reserves the right to revoke existing certifications, preventing affected advertisers from continuing to promote gambling products through Google Ads.
The update signals that Google is moving beyond reviewing individual advertiser applications and is increasingly evaluating an advertiser’s broader compliance history. Agencies and organizations managing multiple gambling advertisers could therefore face consequences if recurring violations occur across the accounts they supervise.
Google is also reinforcing several eligibility requirements that already existed but says it wants to emphasize ahead of the rollout:
- Websites hosted on free subdomains are not eligible for gambling certification.
- The domain must be owned and directly controlled by the business applying for certification.
- Domains unrelated to gambling cannot be certified solely to run gambling advertisements.
Although these domain rules are not new, Google is highlighting them as part of the September policy update, suggesting they will receive closer scrutiny during the certification process.
For gambling operators and the agencies that represent them, the practical impact is clear: certification is becoming more dependent on an ongoing record of policy compliance rather than a one-time approval. Repeated violations may now affect not only individual advertiser accounts but also the broader eligibility of the manager accounts responsible for overseeing them.
Source: seroundtable.com
