Google Refines Advertising Rules for Social Casinos and Sweepstakes

Strict Guidelines for Social Casino Games

Social casino games are defined as simulated online gambling-style games where players cannot win anything of actual monetary value. Google allows the advertising of these games only in approved countries and requires advertisers to hold a specific Google Ads social casino games certification.

A key rule for compliance requires advertisers to maintain two separate Google Ads accounts. One account must be used only for social casino games, and another for any real-money online gambling advertisements.

To gain and maintain the required certification, games must meet several conditions:

• Age Restrictions: The games must include a clear disclaimer stating they are for users of legal gambling age. They cannot target minors.
• No Real Money: The game must carry statements confirming it does not offer or promote real-money gambling or provide prizes of actual value.
• In-App Purchases: Advertisers must clearly disclose if the game features in-app purchases on the landing page or within the advertisement itself.
• Branding Separation: Advertisements, apps, or pages cannot use logos, names, or branding associated with real-money gambling companies.
• Licensing: Advertisers must hold any necessary local licenses required to distribute their games in the target country.

Google considers violations of the social casino games policy to be grave infractions. Detection of such a violation can result in the immediate suspension of the advertiser’s Google Ads account without any prior warning. Furthermore, the advertiser may be banned from placing advertisements again. The promotion of content that directly encourages participation in social casino games, such as aggregator sites or affiliates, is also prohibited.

Defining Sweepstakes and Promotions

The new rules draw a line between social casino games and sweepstakes or contests where prizes are awarded. Specifically, sweepstake casinos are now explicitly excluded from the social casino games definition.

The policy also confirms that prize promotions run by general retailers or service providers to market their goods and services fall outside the scope of these new gambling rules. However, advertisers must confirm whether their specific lottery or contest format qualifies as “gambling” under Google’s broader definition. Google defines gambling as wagering something of value on the outcome of an event dependent on chance, with the possibility of winning something else of value. This is a critical distinction for any business running a prize promotion.