Google’s updated gambling advertising rules place agencies in the firing line

Now that Google’s ‘good policy health’ requirement applies across every iGaming advertising category, meaningful compliance responsibility has shifted onto Manager Accounts, not just the advertisers they serve.

As of 14 September 2026, Google’s Gambling and Games Policy requires any business advertising gambling or games products through the platform to demonstrate what Google terms ‘good policy health’.

European Gaming covered the update when Google first confirmed the change in July. Today, we look at what it means in practice now that it has taken effect, particularly for the agencies and third parties running gambling advertising through Manager Accounts.

What the September update actually changes for operators and agencies

Google has placed agencies and third-party businesses that operate Manager Accounts, the structures used to administer multiple advertiser accounts simultaneously, under materially stricter scrutiny.

The stakes are high. Any Manager Account that has accumulated repeated gambling certificate revocations will permanently lose the ability to apply for fresh certifications. Accounts operating under such a Manager Account that are repeatedly flagged for violations while holding a valid certificate will also forfeit certification eligibility. Google’s stated position in its updated policy is direct:

‘Manager Accounts (MCCs) with repeated online gambling certificate revocations, or accounts under MCC management that are repeatedly flagged for gambling violations while using a certificate, will forfeit eligibility to apply for any new online gambling certificates and may have existing certifications revoked.’

Revocation risk is not confined to the offending account. Connected accounts within the same Manager Account structure can lose existing certifications as a consequence of violations committed elsewhere in that structure. For agencies running multiple client accounts under one MCC, that means a single client’s conduct can now put unrelated clients’ certifications at risk.

Domain ownership rules are being reiterated, not introduced

Alongside the certification expansion, Google has restated its existing domain requirements for gambling certification. These are not new to the September update. Google’s own policy language describes them as requirements that “already exist on the application for certification” and are being repeated for emphasis, having also been reiterated in the March 2026 update.

The requirements themselves remain unchanged: applicants must directly own and control the domain submitted for certification. Websites hosted on free subdomains are not accepted, and standalone domains with no genuine connection to gambling activity are similarly ineligible.

The effect is to prevent businesses from routing certification applications through shell or unrelated web properties, but this is a longstanding control rather than a new closure of a workaround.

Why this lands hardest on agencies

The Manager Account provisions are where the September update’s practical weight sits. Individual advertisers have always answered for their own conduct. What has changed is that agencies and third parties managing multiple advertiser accounts under one MCC now carry structural exposure to their clients’ compliance records, with no apparent way to insulate one account from another’s violations within the same structure.

For agencies managing large portfolios of gambling advertisers, the residual risk is that a violation by one client account could compromise certification for unrelated accounts within the same Manager Account structure. So this kind of exposure is now structural rather than conduct-based.

The remediation path for affected agencies is unclear from the policy as currently stated.

The complication

The policy’s enforcement architecture places significant weight on Google’s ability to identify and act on ‘repeated’ violations consistently across markets. What constitutes a pattern triggering permanent ineligibility, and how quickly that determination is made, is not defined with precision in the published policy language.

What to watch

Google advised advertisers earlier this year that these changes were forthcoming, and the platform has confirmed that the English-language version of the policy is the controlling text. Compliance teams should also consider whether a further extension of geographic or categorical scope follows in a subsequent policy cycle.

Now, operators and their media agencies should monitor Google’s Gambling and Games Policy page for any clarification on the ‘repeated violations’ threshold, given that the current language leaves the trigger point undefined.

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