Starting September 14, Google Ads will evaluate the “policy health” of gambling and games advertising accounts across the entire account, no longer category by category.
The change extends the certification requirements—which, since the March update, only covered part of the categories—to all categories under the Gambling and Games policy.
Media agencies, licensed betting operators, affiliate platforms, and account managers (MCCs) serving the sector in Brazil will need to conduct an internal audit before the deadline.
This change alters the risk calculation for any structure managing multiple betting brands under the same MCC, a common model among agencies serving the sector in the country.
What changes in the rule
In practice, this closes a loophole: any account advertising any type of gambling content will need to demonstrate “good policy health” in order to run campaigns.
A relevant point for agencies and account managers is the rule created for MCCs (Manager Accounts).
“Manager accounts that accumulate repeated revocations of online gambling certificates, or that have, under their management, accounts repeatedly flagged for violations while using a certificate, lose the right to request new online gambling certificates.”
Existing certifications can be revoked
Google has also reinforced three domain requirements:
– Sites hosted on free subdomains are not eligible.
– The domain must be owned and directly controlled by the business itself.
– Domains with no relation whatsoever to gambling are automatically ineligible for certification.
These rules officially take effect in the “Certification” section of the policy starting September 14.
The impact for those operating in Brazil
The Brazilian sports betting market has been one of the highest-volume verticals on Google Ads since regulation by the Secretariat of Prizes and Betting (SPA), linked to the Ministry of Finance.
Today, Google allows ads for lotteries, horse racing, fixed-odds betting, and daily fantasy sports in the country, provided the operator holds an SPA license and, in the case of apps, keeps a visible link to the app store on the official page.
Starting in September, the “policy health” assessment will consider the manager account (MCC) as a whole, no longer each account individually.
In practice, this means that certificate revocations or recurring violations in one managed brand can lead to the loss of the ability to request new certifications for the entire MCC, including client accounts that are in compliance.
The change alters the risk calculation for agencies managing multiple betting brands under the same MCC.
Before September
Whoever manages gambling accounts, whether as an operator, agency, or affiliate platform, must review three fronts before the deadline:
-Certification per account: confirm whether each active account has a valid certificate and whether any application data has changed since the last recertification (Google requires recertification in case of material change).
-Domains used in campaigns: ensure that each domain is owned and directly controlled by the business, is not on a free subdomain, and has a direct relation to the betting operation.
-MCC structure: map whether risk accounts (history of disapprovals, smaller brands, newer operations) are isolated from critical accounts, to avoid exposing the portfolio to a potential chain revocation.
Google is reinforcing criteria for accounts with a history of violations, especially in MCC structures that concentrate several betting brands.
Those who depend on paid media as an acquisition channel have just over two months to reorganize certification, domains, and account structure before the rule takes effect.