What Are The Display Advertising Restrictions? — Part 2

Published in

Inside Revenue

11 min readNov 21, 2018

The Intermediate Guide

Display Advertising restrictions are the difference between your advertising campaigns being approved quickly and easily, or your advertising campaigns being rejected. Having your campaigns rejected will slow you sales down and in turn can cost you time and money. In Part 1, I went over some of the advantages and disadvantages of online advertising. If you missed this article you can click here to read “What Are The Display Advertising Restrictions? — Part 1 (The Beginner’s Guide)”.

In this article, I will go over the restrictions that the two platforms that lead the world of Display Advertising have on ad and landing page content and styling. If you gain an understanding of these and apply them to all campaigns, you will have you campaigns approved quicker, helping ease the frustration seen by so many marketers who are on the losing end of so many campaign review processes. This gives you more time and money to focus on improving your campaigns for success, helping aid you in hitting your revenue targets.

How Can The Display Advertising Restrictions Help Me Hit My Company’s Revenue Targets?

In this article we will cover:
#1 AdWords Restricted Content

#2 Adroll Restricted Content

Let’s get going…
___________________________________________________________________

#1 AdWords Restricted Content

The policies below cover content that is sometimes legally or culturally sensitive. With online advertising being as powerful as it is, AdWords needs to protect its users from harmful and inappropriate advertising. Note that not all ad products, features, or networks are able to support this restricted content. I have also included some of the editorial and technical requirements that AdWords suggests in order to get the most out of your ads.

Restricted Content

1. Adult Content
Ads should respect user preferences and comply with legal regulations, so AdWords don’t allow certain kinds of adult content in ads and destinations. Some kinds of adult-oriented ads and destinations are allowed if they comply with the policies below and don’t target minors, but they will only show in limited scenarios based on user search queries, user age, and local laws where the ad is being served.

Examples of restricted adult content: strip clubs, erotic cinemas, sex toys, adult magazines, sexual enhancement products, matchmaking sites, models in sexualized poses

2. Alcohol
AdWords abides by local alcohol laws and industry standards, so AdWords does not allow certain kinds of alcohol-related advertising, both for alcohol and drinks that resemble alcohol. Some types of alcohol-related ads are allowed if they meet the policies below, don’t target minors, and target only countries that are explicitly allowed to show alcohol ads.

Examples of restricted alcoholic beverages: beer, wine, sake, spirits or hard alcohol, Champagne, fortified wine, non-alcoholic beer, non-alcoholic wine, and non-alcoholic distilled spirits

3. Copyrights
AdWords abides by local copyright laws and protect the rights of copyright holders, so they don’t allow ads that are unauthorized to use copyrighted content. If you are legally authorized to use copyrighted content, apply for certification to advertise. If you see unauthorized content, submit a copyright-related complaint.

4. Gambling And Games
AdWords supports responsible gambling advertising and abide by local gambling laws and industry standards, so they don’t allow certain kinds of gambling-related advertising. Gambling-related ads are allowed if they comply with the policies below and the advertiser has received the proper AdWords certification. Gambling ads must target approved countries, have a landing page that displays information about responsible gambling, and never target minors. Check local regulations for the areas you want to target.

Examples of restricted gambling-related content: physical casinos; sites where users can bet on poker, bingo, roulette, or sports events; national or private lotteries; sports odds aggregator sites; sites offering bonus codes or promotional offers for gambling sites; online educational materials for casino-based games; sites offering “poker-for-fun” games; non-casino-based cash game sites

5. Healthcare And Medicines
AdWords is dedicated to following advertising regulations for healthcare and medicine, so they expect that ads and destinations follow appropriate laws and industry standards. Some healthcare-related content can’t be advertised at all, while others can only be advertised if the advertiser is certified with Google and targets only approved countries. Check local regulations for the areas you want to target.

6. Political Content
AdWords supports responsible political advertising and expect all political ads and destinations to comply with local campaign and election laws for any areas they target. This policy includes legally mandated election “silence periods.”

Examples of political content: promotion of political parties or candidates, political issue advocacy

7. Financial Services
AdWords wants users to have adequate information to make informed financial decisions. Their policies are designed to give users information to weigh the costs associated with financial products and to protect users from harmful or deceitful practices. For the purposes of this policy, AdWords consider financial products and services to be those related to the management and investment of money, including personalized advice.

When promoting financial services and products, you must comply with state and local regulations for any region that your ads target — for example, include specific disclosures required by local law.

8. Trademarks
There are multiple factors that determine when trademarks can be used in AdWords ads. Along with the factors described in their Policy Center, these policies apply only when a trademark owner has submitted a valid complaint to Google.

9. Legal Requirements
You’re always responsible for ensuring that you comply with all applicable laws and regulations, in addition to Google’s advertising policies, for all of the locations where your ads are showing.

10. Other Restricted Businesses
AdWords restricts certain kinds of businesses from advertising with them to prevent users from being exploited, even if individual businesses appear to comply with their other policies. Based on their own continuous reviews, and feedback from users and consumer protection authorities, AdWords occasionally identifies products or services that are prone to abuse. If they feel that certain kinds of businesses pose an unreasonable risk to user safety or user experience, then AdWords may take a conservative position and limit or stop related ads from running.

Editorial & Technical Requirements
AdWords wants to deliver ads that are engaging for users without being annoying or difficult to interact with, so they have developed editorial requirements to help keep your ads appealing to users. They also specified technical requirements to help users and advertisers get the most out of the variety of ad formats we offer.

1. Editorial
In order to provide a quality user experience, Google requires that all ads, extensions, and destinations meet high professional and editorial standards. AdWords only allow ads that are clear, professional in appearance, and that lead users to content that is relevant, useful, and easy to interact with.
Examples of promotions that don’t meet these editorial and professional requirements:

Overly generic ads that contain vague phrases such as “Buy products here”
Gimmicky use of words, numbers, letters, punctuation, or symbols such as FREE, f-r-e-e, and F₹€€!!

2. Destination Requirements
AdWords wants consumers to have a good experience when they click on an ad, so ad destinations must offer unique value to users and be functional, useful, and easy to navigate.
Examples of promotions that don’t meet destination requirements:

A display URL that does not accurately reflect the URL of the landing page, such as “google.com” taking users to “gmail.com”
Sites or apps that are under construction, parked domains, or are just not working
Sites that are not viewable in commonly used browsers
Sites that have disabled the browser’s back button

3. Technical Requirements

To help AdWords keep ads clear and functional, advertisers must meet their technical requirements. They provide specific technical requirements that need to be adhered to. Please see their website for more.

4. Ad Format Requiremens
In order to help you provide a quality user experience and deliver attractive, professional-looking ads, AdWords only allow ads that comply with specific requirements for each ad format. Review the requirements for all ad formats that you’re using.

Note that AdWords does not allow non-family safe ads in image ads, video ads, and other non-text ad formats.

Examples of ad format requirements: character limits for the ad headline or body, image size requirements, file size limits, video length limits, aspect ratios

“While I encourage marketers to take advantage of data, I also caution them that most data is only partial truth. Data can be deceptive.” — Scott Brinker (VP platform ecosystem at HubSpot) @chiefmartec

#2 Adroll Restricted Content

Adroll will review your ad content to ensure that your ads are approved by both Adroll and by their partner networks. These creative requirements are important for any campaign. Adroll’s policies apply to both your ad and website images. Below are the guidelines for your ads and website.

Ad Content Guidelines

1. Adult Content
Any content used in your ads or website must be appropriate for all ages. Adroll can’t move forward with approval if your ads contain nudity, graphic language, or adult concepts.

2. Alcohol
Adroll can’t approve any ads that depict alcohol or alcohol consumption. If your website contains images of alcohol on any of its pages, your campaigns will not be approved.

3. Body Images
In line with Adroll’s policy on adult content, sexualized images can’t be approved. Avoid nudity (implied or explicit), unnecessary skin exposure or cleavage, or other tactics designed to solicit a sexual response.

4. Brand Notification
Your visitor should be able to have a clear understanding of where they’ll be going when they click your ad. Adroll require that the brand shown on the ad matches the brand of the destination landing page.

5. Shock Value
Don’t use images that are visually disturbing, gory, or designed to shock or scare.

6. Spam Tactics
Tactics to mislead a visitor are strictly prohibited. Adroll can’t approve ads that:

Imitate computer functions such as system messages, progress bars, or virus warnings
Mimic the function of other types of media, such appearing to be an embedded video
Initiate prompts to download files or software after the click
Strobing, flashing backgrounds, or otherwise distracting ads aren’t allowed. Don’t attempt to overtly distract the user from page content

7. Toubon Law (France)
France’s 1994 Toubon Law requires that ads in France must be only in French, or include a French translation. This applies to ads shown on any French IP address (not just on .fr domains). To serve ads in France, please make sure that the ad content is in the French language.

8. Personally Targeted Messaging
Due to the highly targeted nature of retargeting, Adroll needs to be especially sensitive to user privacy. This is something to be particularly careful with if your website focuses on products or services for a specific audience. Even if your website meets our content requirements, targeted messaging that implies knowledge of an individual’s personal circumstances can’t be approved.

Your ads and website can’t depict violence, including pictures of guns or other firearms.

Website Content Guidelines

Adroll’s goal is to help your business grow, and they welcome advertisers of all sizes. Here are the guidelines for your website to comply with Adroll and their 500+ partners and exchanges.

While Adroll require a complete website, if your site is new or under construction, you can still place your Adroll Pixel, and then start your campaigns when your website is complete.

Your website must be fully functional. They can’t send visitors to a “Coming Soon!” landing page
All navigation links must be fully functional and lead to active pages

All pages must be complete. Having active links to pages that are under construction or blank may be grounds for disapproval.Be sure to proofread your website for spelling or grammatical errors

Adroll require advertisers to be transparent with their users.

The “mission statement” test: While a mission statement is not required, visitors should be able to summarize your site’s purpose through the information available on your landing page (without having to submit personal information)
Clear and accurate explanation of your product or service offering
Explicit terms of engagement
A complete privacy policy
An “About Us” section
Business contact information

1. Your Website Must Provide Added Value
Ask yourself the following:

Is the primary content of your website proprietary (owned by you)? This includes sponsored content featured on your website. See Ad Publishers for more information.
If your website aggregates content from third parties, does it provide additional value that the original content provider doesn’t?
Does your website clearly communicate that value to your visitor?

2. Your Website Must Be Able To Stand By Its Claims
All content should be relevant, accurate, informative, and up to date. Any claims should be easily verifiable. If a warranty or guarantee is offered, the terms of the agreement must be clear to your site visitors. Adroll will not promote websites that intentionally misrepresent their business or use any tactic to falsely enhance reputation or misrepresent actual offerings. Possible tactics include:

Staged reviews or testimonials
Inaccurate claims of certification
Fake endorsements
Misleading or unclear terms of use

3. Content Should Be Family Safe And Age Appropriate
Please make sure that your site is appropriate for all ages. It can’t contain nudity, adult products, mature concepts, violent themes, or vulgar language.

4. Spam Is Prohibited
Spam tactics distract your visitors without providing value. Avoid these on your site:

Excessive use of punctuation, fonts, or font formatting
Any strategy that interferes with browser functionality
Strategies that mimic system functions to trick visitors into completing an action
Websites that prompt users to download additional software in order to display website elements
The use of spyware or malware

5. Malware Is Prohibited
Adroll does not condone the use of Malware. Any content which is deemed malicious or tries to bypass the ad review process is not eligible to run with Adroll.

Malware is considered to be any type of software in which the purpose is designed to harm, infiltrate, or damage a computer. Malware may access sensitive information from a computer without receiving consent to do so. Types of malware can include a virus, worm, spyware, adware, or trojan. Additionally, cryptocurrency mining using browser CPU from unsuspecting website visitors is prohibited.

___________________________________________________________________

Above we went over some of the restrictions that Adroll and AdWords have relating to ad content and websites. All of this is to protect internet users against harmful and inappropriate content. This is important for all advertisers to note.

In my next article, “What Are The Display Advertising Restrictions? — Part 3 (The Advanced Guide)”, I will cover the prohibited items on AdWords and go through the additional guidelines laid out for you by the above two platforms that may result in your ads being immediately disapproved, or your advertising account being suspended or banned.