Meta’s iGaming Ad policies are a document released by the ad network that contains a set of rules and regulations that operators must follow to successfully run their ads on any of its platforms (Facebook, Instagram, or Messenger). While these rules exist to protect players from predatory gambling practices, they’ve faced a lot of backlash over the years from operators who either can’t keep up or understand how they work.
Recently, Meta updated its online gambling and gaming policy, and, love it or hate it, if you’re a Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) who intends to run campaigns on the platform without getting restricted or suspended. You must familiarize yourself with those rules.
In this article, MatchPlugAgency will discuss Meta’s iGaming Ad policies, the new online gambling and gaming policy, and share guidelines on how CMOs can run compliant campaigns.
About Meta’s Online Gambling and Gaming Advertising Policy
Meta’s online gambling and gaming advertising policy governs every form of ad that promotes iGaming services or products. According to Meta, online gambling and games are any product or service that involves anything of monetary value being used as a method of entry and prize. This monetary value could be cash or digital currencies like Bitcoin.
Which activities are classified as online gambling or games?
The following activities are classified under online gambling or games:
All types of online gambling
- Betting.
- Lotteries.
- Raffles.
- Casino games.
- Fantasy sports.
- Bingo.
- Poker.
- Skill game tournaments.
- Sweepstakes.
Games that feature anything of monetary value as a method of entry or prize
- Games that require purchases to continue gameplay or provide an advantage in winning prizes (in scenarios where the prize is of monetary value).
Ads with destination (landing) pages from aggregator or affiliate sites that feature promotions for online gambling or games. Even if there is no opportunity to gamble or play directly on that page.
Games that offer a limited trial period and require payment after.
Activities that do not classify as online gambling or games
The following activities do not classify as online gambling or games activities, and do not require authorisation from Meta:
Physical, real-money gambling activity or establishments
- “Brick and mortar casinos” in Las Vegas, entertainment events at casinos, or streaming of offline poker tournaments, as long as the ad or destination page does not promote or support online gambling.
Prize promotions that entail buying a product at the usual retail price, as long as online gambling is not the main business model of the advertiser or any featured brand.
State or government lotteries, as long as the advertiser is directly or exclusively responsible for running the lottery.
Entirely free-to-play games that do not stimulate gambling games or give any opportunity for players to win anything of monetary value.
How to run online gambling and games ads on Meta
To run ads that promote online gambling and games, CMOs will need to:
- Obtain a single authorisation from Meta Technologies through the Authorisations and Verifications tab in Meta Business Suite. Please note, you only need to get a single authorisation to target online gambling and gaming ads globally, except for unsupported markets.
- Meta also doesn’t allow online gambling and games ads to be shown to individuals under the age of 18.
Understanding Social Casino Games, Free-to-Play Games
Social casino games are online games that stimulate casino gambling (for example, poker, slots, or roulette) with no chances of winning anything of real-world value, like money or prizes. For instance, a game can provide the chance for players to win “coins,” provided those coins do not have monetary value.
Running Ads for Social Casino Games
Advertisers do not need prior authorisation from Meta to run social casino games and free-to-play games as long as they:
- Don’t provide the chance to win money, coins, gifts, or anything with monetary value.
- Don’t target people under the age of 18.
An Overview of Meta’s New Online Gambling and Gaming Policy
According to Meta’s new online gambling and gaming policy, any ads that market online gambling and gaming are not permitted on Meta without an existing written permission from the network. Authorized advertisers must abide by the laws and include targeting criteria consistent with Meta’s targeting requirements.
You must also provide evidence that the activities you’re promoting are duly licensed by a regulator and established as lawful in the territories you want to target. Advertisers must also not target people under the age of 18.
New Guidelines to Run Compliant Online Gambling and Gaming Ads
The new guidelines for CMOs looking to run compliant iGaming campaigns were released early in July. Please note, the new rules are the same as the old guidelines, with minimal updates that CMOS can find in the link we shared in the previous section.
With that said, here is a summary of them below:
Advertisers still need written permission to promote the following
- All forms of gambling, such as betting, raffles, lotteries, fantasy sports, casino games, bingo, poker, sweepstakes, and skill game tournaments.
- Games that include items of monetary value as part of an entry method or the prize. This includes but is not limited to cash or digital currencies. It also entails games that require users to make purchases to continue gameplay or provide an advantage in winning prizes in scenarios where the prize has monetary value.
- Ads with landing pages promoting online gambling or games, even without an opportunity to gamble or game directly on that page, like affiliate or aggregator sites.
Advertisers with permissions cannot show ads to people under 18. Permission is required in the following countries:
- Australia
- Austria
- Brazil
- Canada
- Colombia
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- India
- Ireland
- Japan
- Kenya
- Mexico
- Netherlands
- Nigeria
- Norway
- Peru
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Serbia
- Slovakia
- South Africa
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Turkey
- United Kingdom
Chief Marketing Officers for iGaming businesses can visit the network’s official page the learn more about Meta’s new Online gambling and gaming policy. The rules are the same as the old ones, but have minor changes that affect you.
