The change took effect on October 30, 2026, and lets advertisers in sensitive categories build campaigns around Google-defined audiences based on interests, demographics and location, which the company says are set up to exclude sensitive user signals. Google hasn’t said exactly which targeting features were changed, and its existing limits remain in place, so gambling advertisers still can’t use their own curated audiences or target people based on health information linked to gambling.
For prediction market operators, the update doesn’t open up all 3 markets. Under Google’s separate prediction market policy, advertisers need every applicable local financial, commodity, and gaming license, and campaigns are only allowed in the US, excluding Connecticut, Michigan, Nevada, New York, and Ohio, with the UK and Canada not on the approved list. Eligible US advertisers are CFTC-authorized exchanges and NFA-authorized brokerages that offer access to specified exchange-listed products, and ads for fixed-payout binary options on financial asset prices remain banned.
All gambling advertisers must still be certified by Google, hold licenses for the markets they target, and avoid reaching minors, with under-18 users excluded from personalized ads altogether. The update follows Google’s October 7 decision to let certified online gambling advertisers book YouTube Masthead placements from October 21, and a September revision that added stricter certification checks for advertisers, agencies, affiliates, and manager accounts.
