Planning tool
Gambling Ad Pre-Launch Checklist
Work through the checks most gambling campaigns need before launch: licenses, platform approval, age, responsible gambling, offer wording and geography. Tick items as you go, see notes for each market and download your list as a CSV.
Your checklist
United Kingdom. CAP Code section 16 applies across the UK. In Great Britain, the Gambling Commission's license conditions also apply, and bonus wagering is capped at ten times from January 19, 2026.
United States. Licensing and ad rules are set state by state; Massachusetts and Ohio bar targeting people under 21 and require problem gambling help information in ads.
Canada. In Ontario, Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) Standard 2.05 bans public advertising of inducements; elsewhere provinces conduct and manage gambling.
Australia. Online casinos and in-play online sports betting are banned services; wagering providers must use the national taglines and promote BetStop.
This checklist is a planning aid. Ticking every box does not mean a platform will approve your ads or that your ads comply with the law.
Where each check comes from
- Licensing proof: Google asks for evidence of a valid local license for every region you target; see the certification guide.
- Platform approval: every platform in the policy library describes an approval step (for Meta, as a 2023 summary reports), and Microsoft limits gambling to text search ads.
- Age: legal ages and youth appeal rules are in the age restrictions guide.
- Responsible gambling: market by market in the responsible gambling messages guide.
- Offer wording: the ten times wagering cap in Great Britain, Ontario's ban on public inducement ads and US limits on "free" are in the bonus advertising rules.
- Geo eligibility: licensed areas, exclusions and Australian product bans are in the formats and targeting guide.
Nothing you tick is stored or sent. The page works in your browser only, and the CSV is created on your device.
Sources
- Google Ads Policies Help, Gambling and games (official English version), no date shown.
- Microsoft Advertising, Gambling and contests editorial guidelines, no date shown.
- Gambling Commission, Gambling promotions to be safer and simpler, last updated July 24, 2025.
- AGCO, Marketing and Advertising, last updated May 14, 2026.
- ACMA, About the Interactive Gambling Act, no date shown.
- Massachusetts Gaming Commission, 205 CMR 256.00: Sports wagering advertising, Mass. Register #1581, August 28, 2026.
All pages checked October 28, 2026. How we choose sources: data sources.