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Learn what changes have occurred in the Microsoft Advertising policies over time.

November 2023
Gambling and lotteries
South Africa
The policies for gambling in South Africa have been updated to allow licensed sports betting providers.

November 2023
Gambling and lotteries
Netherlands
Age targeting requirements have been updated.

November 2023
Gambling and lotteries
United States
Forms of allowed gambling advertising have been clarified and the states where paid fantasy sports advertising is allowed have been updated.

November 2023
Gambling and lotteries
Ireland
Watershed requirements have been removed for gambling advertising in Ireland.

August 2023
Pharmacy and healthcare
Global
Advertising for addiction recovery services is no longer allowed in Display advertising.

August 2023
Pharmacy and healthcare
Global
Advertising for participation in clinical trials or experimental treatments is not allowed.

August 2023
Adult
Hungary and Poland
Adult advertising is no longer allowed in Hungary and Poland.

August 2023
Gambling and lotteries
Ireland
Watershed requirements have been added for gambling advertising in Ireland.

July 2023
Government Services and Products
United States
Microsoft Advertising policies for government products and services was updated in the United States.

July 2023
Adult
Global
Description of risqué content was added.

July 2023
Gambling and lotteries
Belgium
Advertising for gambling is no longer allowed in Belgium.

July 2023
Other restricted products/services
Multiple markets
Advertising for camouflage clothing or other wearable products is not allowed in the following markets: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Ghana, Grenada, Jamaica, Nigeria, Oman, Philippines, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

July 2023
Other restricted products/services
Global
Advertising for end-of-life services is no longer allowed in Display advertising.

July 2023
Legal Services
Global
Advertising for participation in a lawsuit or settlement is no longer allowed in Display advertising.

July 2023
Offensive or harmful content
Global
Microsoft Advertising policies for violence and suffering have been consolidated into the offensive or harmful content page.

July 2023
Malware, phishing, and disallowed software behavior
Global
Microsoft Advertising policies for malware, phishing, and disallowed software behavior have been consolidated into one new page.

July 2023
Publisher preferences
Multiple markets
Microsoft Advertising policy callouts for specific publishers such as MSN, Outlook, Xbox, Casual Games, etc. have been moved from the network policy pages into a publisher preference section.

July 2023
Addition of policies for Vietnam
Vietnam
Microsoft Advertising policies that were missing have been added.

July 2023
Mapped territories removed
Multiple markets
Microsoft Advertising policies have removed for Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, French Guiana, French Polynesia, Gibraltar, Martinique, Montserrat, New Caldonia, Papua New Guinea, Reunion, and Turks and Caicos Islands, as they will follow the policies for the market to which they are mapped.

July 2023
Launch of policy for new markets
Multiple markets
Microsoft Advertising policies have been added for Antigua and Barbuda, Central African Republic, Comoros, Cook Islands, Djibouti, Eritrea, Guinea-Bissau, Macao SAR, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Samoa, Sierra Leone, Tokelau, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.

July 2023
System quality
Global
Microsoft Advertising policies for Advertiser Identity Verification have been added.

July 2023
Impact to your Microsoft Advertising account
Global
Microsoft Advertising policies related to ad and ad component disapprovals, product or store disapprovals, repeated violations, and egregious policy violations have been published.

June 2023
Gambling and lotteries
Global
Advertising for gambling is no longer disallowed on Audience Ads and Native Ads. Market restrictions still apply.

June 2023
Pharmacy and healthcare
Global
Advertising for vitamins and supplements is no longer disallowed on Audience Ads and Native Ads. Market restrictions still apply.

December 2022
Information integrity and misleading content policies
Global
Our policies on information integrity and misleading content have been updated.

December 2022
Launch of policy for new markets
Multiple markets
Microsoft Advertising policies have been added for American Samoa, Anguilla, Barbados, Belize, Benin, Bermuda, Botswana, British Virgin Islands, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Faroe Islands, Gabon, Gibraltar, Greenland, Grenada, Jamaica, Marshall Islands, Niger, Northern Mariana Islands, Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Senegal, Somalia, Suriname, Tonga, Tunisia, Turks and Caicos Islands, Uganda, United States Virgin Islands, and Zambia.

September 2022
Pharmacy and healthcare
Global
New policies are in effect for pharmaceuticals and healthcare in Microsoft Audience Ads and Native Ads.

September 2022
Gambling and lotteries
Canada
New policies are in effect for gambling in Canada.

August 2022
Launch of policy for new markets
Multiple markets
Microsoft Advertising policies have been added for Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Georgia, Guinea, Iraq, Israel, Kyrgyzstan, Lesotho, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritania, Mauritius, Moldova, Namibia, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Reunion, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Tajikistan, Tanzania, The Gambia, Togo, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, and Zimbabwe.

May 2022
Financial products and services policies
United States
Our policy on financial products and services has been updated to allow pre-approved cryptocurrency exchanges in the United States. Please reference the cryptocurrency and related products policy for details.

May 2022
Gambling and contests
Netherlands
New policies are in effect for gambling in the Netherlands.

May 2022
Launch of policy for new markets
Multiple markets
Microsoft Advertising policies have been added for Aruba, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brunei, Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Fiji, French Guiana, French Polynesia, Guam, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Japan, Maldives, Martinique, Mongolia, Montserrat, Nepal, New Caledonia, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Puerto Rico, Sri Lanka, Trinidad and Tobago, and Uruguay.

May 2022
Translation of policy site into Japanese
Japan
The policy pages have been translated into Japanese.

February 2022
Advertising policy site redesign
Global
The design and organization of content on the Microsoft Advertising policy pages has been updated.

February 2022
Native and Display policies integrated into policy site
Global
Native and Display Advertising policies have been integrated with the existing Search Advertising policies for a comprehensive Microsoft Advertising Policy Site.

February 2022
Launch of policy for new markets
Multiple markets
Microsoft Advertising policies have been added for Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Servia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, and Turkey.

February 2022
Translation of policy site into Greek
Greece
The policy pages have been translated into Greek.

November 2021
Remarketing
Global
New policies are in effect for remarketing and personalization in paid search.

Microsoft Audience Ads
Global
New policies are in effect for Microsoft Audience Ads.

November 2020
Ad Extensions
Global
New policies are in effect for ad campaigns leveraging Promotion Extensions.

September 2020
Traffic Quality Center
Global
Our policy on invalid clicks has been updated.

July 2020
Relevance and quality policy
Global
Our policy on system quality has been updated. Please reference the relevance and quality policy for details.

April 2020
Gambling and contests
Switzerland
New policies are in effect for gambling in Switzerland.

April 2020
Misleading content policies
Global
Our policy for government products and services has been updated. Please reference misleading content policies for details.

March 2020
Remarketing
Global
New policies are in effect for Remarketing in paid search.

January 2020
Pharmacy and healthcare products and services
Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland
New policies are in effect for pharmaceutical ads.

April 2019
Disallowed Content
Global
New policies are in effect for political advertising.

March 2019
Pharmacy and healthcare products and services
United States
Our policy for drug or alcohol addiction services has been updated. Please reference the Pharmacy and healthcare products and services policy for more details.

January 2019
Gambling and contests
Sweden
New policies are in effect for gambling in Sweden.

November 2018
Financial products and services policies
Taiwan
We have updated our policies for credit card advertising.

October 2018
Disallowed Content
United States
New policies are in effect for political candidate and ballot measure ads.

October 2018
Microsoft Audience Ads
Global
New policies are in effect for Microsoft Audience Ads.

July 2018
Gambling and contests
Italy
New policies are in effect for gambling in Italy.

July 2018
Disallowed Products and Services
Global
New policies are in effect for weapon related products.

July 2018
Financial products and services policies
Global
Our policy on financial products and services has been updated to disallow cryptocurrency and related products. Please reference the Financial products and services policies for details.

June 2018
Pharmacy and healthcare products and services
Germany
New policies are in effect for pharmaceutical ads in Germany.

June 2018
Remarketing
Global
New policies are in effect for Remarketing in paid search.

May 2018
Microsoft Audience Ads
Global
New policies are in effect for Microsoft Audience Ads.

April 2018
Ad Extensions
Global
New policies are in effect for ad campaigns leveraging Price Extensions.

April 2018
Disallowed Content and Product Ads
United States
Our policy on shipping terms has been updated.

March 2018
Disallowed Content and Product Ads
United States
Our policy has been updated to disallow advertising that promotes the collection of no sales tax in the United States.

September 2017
Pharmacy and healthcare products and services
Canada and United States
Our policy on required accreditation/registration for online pharmacy advertisers has been updated. Please reference the Pharmacy and healthcare products and services for more details.

August 2017
URLs and landing page policies
Global
Our policy on URLs and landing pages has been updated. Please reference the URLs and landing page policies for details.

Relevance and quality policy
Global
Our policy on relevance and quality has been updated. Please reference the Relevance and quality policy for details.

March 2017
Intellectual property policies
Australia, Brazil, France, Indonesia, Italy, New Zealand, Republic of Ireland, Singapore, United Kingdom
Our policy on intellectual property has been updated. Please reference the Intellectual property policies for details.

Pharmacy and healthcare products and services
Global
New language has been added to clarify our policies around weight loss. Please reference Pharmacy and healthcare products and services for more details

Financial products and services policies
United States
Our policy on financial products and services has been updated. Please reference the Financial products and services policies for details

September 2016
Product Ads
Global
Our policy has been updated to accept offers featuring $0 pricing for mobile phones and tablets in product ads. Restrictions apply, please reference the Product Ads Pricing Policy for details

September 2016
Ad Extensions
Global
New policies are in effect for ad campaigns leveraging Structured Snippet Extensions.

September 2016
Software and downloads policies
Global
Our policy on software and downloads have been updated. Please reference the Software and downloads policies for details.

August 2016
Endangered and threatened species products or services
Global
Our policy has been updated to reflect the adoption of a global standardized wildlife policy framework in collaboration with WWF, TRAFFIC and IFAW. While the policy was already in place, it has been expanded to ensure consistent protection throughout the industry. Please reference the Disallowed and restricted products and services policies for additional information.

April 2016
Ad Extensions
Global
New policies are in effect for ad campaigns leveraging Callout Extensions.

Ad Extensions
Global
New policies are in effect for ad campaigns leveraging Review Extensions.

Pharmacy and healthcare products and services
Canada and United States
Our policy has been updated to accept .pharmacy domain names as one of the forms of required accreditation/registration for online pharmacy advertisers. Please reference the Pharmacy and healthcare products and services for more details.

March 2016
Adult content policies
Australia and New Zealand
Our policy has been updated to allow advertising for adult content in Australia and New Zealand. Restrictions apply, please reference the Adult content policies for details.

November 2015
Misleading content policies
Global
Our policies on promotion of third party products and services have been updated. Please reference the Misleading content policies for details.

November 2015
Pharmacy and healthcare products and services
Germany, Sweden, The Netherlands
We have begun to allow authorized online pharmacies to advertise nonprescription drugs in compliance with local regulations. Please reference Pharmacy and healthcare products and services for more details.

October 2015
Gambling and contests
Republic of Ireland
Advertisers must adhere to recently revised legal requirements, including licensing requirements managed by the National Excise Licence Office, in order to continue promoting online gambling in the Rep. of Ireland market. This is a change from our previous policy, which stipulated that establishments in possession of either a local license or a license issued in selected foreign jurisdictions were allowed to advertise. Going forward, foreign licensed advertisers can no longer advertise on Microsoft Advertising in the Rep. or Ireland market unless they are in possession of proper authorization issued by local authorities.

August 2015
URLs and landing page policies
Global
Our policy has been updated to require that Display URLs in a single ad group use the same top-level URL domain. Please reference the URLs and landing page policies for details.

June 2015
Product Ads
Global
Our policy has been updated with additional requirements for ad campaigns leveraging Product Ads. Advertisers must still adhere to the Microsoft Advertising policy in addition to this policy.

May 2015
Gambling and contests
United States
We have begun allowing advertising for approved paid fantasy sports in United States. Restrictions apply, please reference the Gambling and contests policies for details.

April 2015
Ad Extensions
Global
New policies are in effect for ad campaigns leveraging App Extensions.

February 2015
Adult content
Hong Kong
Our policy has been updated to disallow advertising for adult contents in Hong Kong.

February 2015
Remarketing in paid search
Global
New policies are in effect for ad campaigns leveraging search remarketing functionalities.

February 2015
Phone numbers and Ad Call Extensions
Unites States, Canada, United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Taiwan
Starting February, ads may not include a phone number in any portions of the ad copy except through the use of Call Extensions or Location Extensions. Trademarked phone numbers and phone numbers that are part of WAP mobile ads will not be affected by this policy change.

October 2014
Gambling and contests
United Kingdom
Advertisers must adhere to recently revised legal requirements, including licensing requirements managed by the U.K. Gambling Commission, in order to continue promoting online gambling in the U.K. market on Microsoft Search Network. This is a change from our previous policy, which stipulated that establishments in possession of either a U.K. license or a license issued in selected foreign jurisdictions were allowed to advertise. Going forward, foreign licensed advertisers can no longer advertise on Microsoft Search Network in the U.K. market unless they are in possession of proper authorization issued by the U.K. Gambling Commission.

September 2014
Adult content
Brazil
Our policy has been updated to disallow advertising for adult contents in Brazil.

September 2014
Gambling and contests
Brazil
We have begun allowing advertising for National lotteries in Brazil. Restrictions apply, please reference the Gambling and contests policies for details.

August 2014
Pharmacy and healthcare products and services
Global
We have added a new Disapproved healthcare products and supplements page for non-exhaustive lists of healthcare products and supplements that cannot be advertised within Microsoft Advertising.

July 2014
Pharmacy and healthcare products and services
Taiwan
We have begun to allow lawful pharmaceutical traders to advertise certain permitted medical instruments that complies with local regulations in Taiwan. Please reference Pharmacy and healthcare products and services for more details.

June 2014
Financial product and services policies
Global
New language has been added to clarify our policies around financial products and services.

June 2014
Image, audio and video ad policies
Global
New policies are in effect for ads featuring image, audio and/or video components.

June 2014
Ad Extensions policies
Global
New policies are now available for Ad Extensions, covering Sitelink Extensions, Location Extensions, Phone Numbers and Ad Call Extensions, and Image Extensions.

February 2014
Disallowed and restricted content policies
Taiwan
We have removed the requirement to have the phone number of the local sheriff in advertising for homestay under the Disallowed and restricted content policies.

February 2014
Ad content and style policies
Hong Kong/Taiwan
We have made additional requirements for Display URL, under the Ad Content and Style policies, for ads targeting Hong Kong and/or Taiwan to restrict the use of only English characters in the main domain of the display URL. Please refer to the Ad content and style policy for more information.

January 2014
Disallowed and restricted content policies
Global
We have made two revisions to the Disallowed and restricted content policy: a revision of the section on political and religious content, and a revision of the section on alcohol. Please refer to the Disallowed and Restricted Content policy for details.

January 2014
Gambling and contests policies
Global
We have made a revision to the Gambling and contests policies, adding a responsible gaming message to those markets permitting gambling. Please reference the gambling and contests policy for specific details.

December 2013
User safety and privacy
Global
There are two updates to the User safety and privacy policy: the addition of a section on third-party products and services and a revision to the software and downloads section. These changes are meant to provide transparency and ensure a high quality experience for both our customers and end users. The section on 3rd party products and services requires that advertisers are clear about their identity and relationship with the owner of the product or service they promote. The updates to the section of software and downloads help to clarify our requirements around such things as bundling and uninstall functionality. Please review the full User safety and privacy policy for more information.

December 2013
Gambling and contests policies
Mexico
We have begun to allow online gambling that complies with local regulations in Mexico. As always, please reference the Gambling policy for specific details.

November 2013
Punctuation
Global
We have removed the restriction on use of exclamation points in ad titles from the Content and Style policies. A single exclamation point is now allowed in the title of an ad.

October 2013
Gambling and contests policies
United States, New Zealand
An update to policy allows approved state lotteries to advertise within the U.S. Additionally, locally licensed gambling operators may now advertise in New Zealand. Restrictions apply, so please reference the Gambling policy for details.

September 2013
Product Ads
United States
A new policy is available for Product Ads. Advertisers must still adhere to theMicrosoft Advertising policy in addition to this policy which introduces policies specific to the images and product descriptions that are part of Product Ads.

July 2013
Phone numbers and Ad Call Extensions
Global
Our policy has been updated to include more detailed information about how phone numbers may be used in ads and the requirement to disclose in advance any fees or recording.

May 2013
Launch of policy for new markets
Multiple markets
We have launched Microsoft Advertising in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam and policies have been updated for these markets. Please reference our global policies or the Taiwan policy for Taiwan-specific information.

April 2013
Launch of policy for Brazil
Brazil
Policies have been updated to support the launch of Microsoft Advertising in Brazil. Policy content specific to Brazil can be found in the Adult content policies, the Disallowed and restricted content policy and our policy on Pharmacy and healthcare products and services.

April 2013
Gambling
Canada, Germany
Our policy has changed in both Germany and Canada to allow licensed gambling operators. Please review the Gambling policy for further details.

January 2013
Gambling
Netherlands
We have adjusted our policy to permit lotteries for certain authorized advertisers in the Netherlands.

November 2012
Disallowed and restricted content
Global
New language has been added to clarify that content promoting self-harm or cruelty to animals is prohibited.