Google Ads is broadening two separate policies at once, one an eligibility expansion, the other a compliance tightening. Starting July 28, alcohol ads become eligible in roughly 29 additional countries and regions, including Brazil, Finland, Jamaica, South Korea, and Vietnam, per Search Engine Roundtable. Advertisers can promote beverages up to each region’s maximum permitted ABV, plus 0% ABV products, subject to local limits such as Ecuador’s under 5% threshold.
Separately, effective September 14, Google extends the certification requirement it launched in March to every category under its Gambling and Games policy. All advertisers in those categories will need to demonstrate good policy health to qualify.
The stricter piece targets repeat offenders. Manager accounts with repeated certificate revocations, or sub-accounts flagged repeatedly for violations, lose eligibility to apply for new gambling certificates and risk having existing ones revoked. Google also reiterated that free subdomains and domains unrelated to gambling remain ineligible for certification.
Gambling advertisers should audit account-level compliance history well before September, since penalties now extend beyond the individual campaign to the entire manager account.
According to Search Engine Roundtable’s July 14, 2026 report, citing Google Ads policy updates on alcohol and gambling and games advertising.
