Google extends gambling ad restrictions to Display network

Google has restricted gambling ads on its platforms further by extending the already-in-place limits on YouTube.

Google announced in December 2020 that viewers on YouTube would be able to self-administer limitations on alcohol and gambling advertising, and its most recent update has expanded these restrictions across Google’s Display network.

The initial controls were first made available in the US before being made available globally. These limits also cover three other categories: pregnancy and parenting, dating and weight loss, which have been added to Google’s “sensitive categories” list.

The Ads Help support website at Google contains more information on how these limits function. Advertisers will be unable to present personalised advertising as a result of the filters, but they will not be able to ban anything that is simply tangentially related.

These filters are presently in beta and are only available for YouTube videos and targeted ads from the Google Ads programme. Google search results will not be filtered by these additions.

If the user chooses to interact with gambling or alcohol advertising in the future, the restrictions can be reversed.

Following this update, Karin Hennessy, group product manager for ad privacy at Google, said: “Providing transparency and control has always been a priority for us. We’ll continue to listen to user feedback and study which categories to expand this feature to in the future.”