Update to Gambling and Games Policy: Gambling and Games Certification Eligibility Update (March 2026)

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On March 23, 2026, the Google Ads Gambling and games policy will be updated to introduce new certification requirements. All accounts seeking to advertise in any gambling and games category must now demonstrate good policy health as set out below.

Manager Accounts (MCCs) which have significant volume of gambling certificates revoked from accounts under its management, or if significant volumes of accounts under your management are found to have violated the gambling policy while relying on a gambling certificate, will lose the ability to apply for any new online gambling certificates and will have existing certifications revoked.

The following domain requirements, which already exist on the application for certification, are being reiterated for emphasis:

• Certification is not available for sites hosted on free platforms, those using a sub-domain whose root domain is a third party platform host, those with no association with gambling or those with a second-level domain not owned and operated by the advertiser.

The "Certification" section of the Gambling and games policy will be updated when these requirements take effect on March 23, 2026.

(Posted January 22, 2026)