Alcohol Ads on Google: Complete Guide to Compliance, Setup & Best Practices

Alcohol ads are allowed on Google, but only if you follow strict rules on age, location, and responsible messaging. If you ignore these rules, your ads can get disapproved or your account suspended.​

To run alcohol campaigns, you must follow Google’s alcohol policies and local laws in every market you target. This means only targeting users who are old enough to drink, avoiding minors in your creatives, and keeping your messaging clear and responsible.​

To set up campaigns carefully, you also need to: 

• Choose the right campaign type (Search, Display, or Video)
• Use accurate age and geo‑targeting
• Add age‑gates and ABV details on your landing pages
• Fix any issues Google flags before scaling your spend. 

In the rest of this guide, you’ll see how these policies work in detail, how to set up compliant ads step by step, and what to do when your alcohol ads get rejected.

What Are Alcohol Ads on Google?

Simply put, alcohol ads on Google are promotional visuals for alcoholic beverages shown across Google’s ad platforms: Search, Display, YouTube, and AdMob. With 9.5 million searches per minute on its search platform alone, Google offers a wealth of advertising opportunities for alcohol brands.

However, alcohol is a highly regulated industry globally, and Google’s ad policy aims to comply with existing legislation. As a result, there are limitations to how and where advertisers can promote alcoholic drinks. 

Some of the regulations fall within general guidelines, such as prohibiting sales or informational alcohol ads to minors. Others are location-based. For instance, Google has a list of countries (such as the US, the UK, France, and New Zealand) where alcohol ads can run. Other regions, like Afghanistan, Pakistan, South Korea, and Kuwait, where alcohol possession and use is illegal, are not included in this list. 

The type of messaging is also vital. Alcohol advertising on Google should not imply that these products offer health benefits or can improve social status. 

Google’s Alcohol Ad Policy Essentials

Understanding Google’s policy for advertising alcoholic beverages can help brands achieve alcohol ad compliance. In this section, we cover the core details of Google Ads’ alcohol policy so you can create promotions that adhere to the guidelines:

Certification & Eligibility – How to Get Approved

When you create a Google ad, it will typically go through a review process to determine if it aligns with the required guidelines. For alcohol-related promotions, here are some factors that make your ad eligible to run:

Targeting Requirements – Age Gates, Exclusion of Minors

Google will not approve ads promoting alcohol to minors or individuals below the drinking age in a specific country. For example, the legal drinking age in the United States is 21 years, while in the UK, it is 18 years. As such, if you’re advertising in these regions, you must ensure that your ad’s imagery, copy, and age-targeting settings aren’t tailored to underage demographics. 

Beyond the content of the promotion, Google counsels marketers to take certain steps to prevent their ads from reaching children and teens. For instance, it is important to age-gate your alcohol landing page to restrict minors from gaining access. During the ad review process, Google will evaluate your website, and lacking age-gate features on your landing page could lead to disapproval. 

On YouTube, Google doesn’t display alcohol ads on content made for kids and families. As a result, it requires advertisers to use the “content suitable for kids” exclusion tool to restrict their promotions from Made for Kids videos. 

Furthermore, all demographic targeting tools must be set to users who are of legal age to consume alcohol in their respective countries. 

Content Limitations – Prohibited Messages, Responsible Messaging

As Google reviews your ad’s content for approval, it will evaluate the messaging for compliance with its policies. Basically, the US-based tech company wants advertisers to prioritize responsible alcohol marketing. As such, it will not display ads that imply that alcoholic beverages can enhance professional, social, sexual, intellectual, or athletic standing. 

Your ads should also not promise that alcohol can offer any health benefits. For instance, there are beliefs that alcoholic drinks can provide relief for anxiety and help with sleep-related struggles. None of these claims are medically true, and Google will reject your ad if it contains them or any health-related messaging. 

In addition, you must not present excessive drinking as acceptable or showcase individuals consuming alcohol while driving or executing tasks that require alertness. 

Allowed vs. Prohibited Content

Google clearly specifies the type of alcohol advertising it will display across its platforms and the locations where these ads are legal.

Allowed Content – Branding, Informational, E-commerce Links

You can run Google ads featuring links that lead to e-commerce platforms where users can purchase alcohol. However, these ads can only run in specific locations—more on that in detail in the next section of this guide. 

Informational or branding ads that target approved locations are also permitted on Google. Basically, these are ads that educate users about alcohol or foster awareness about alcohol brands rather than offer the beverages for sale. 

Prohibited Content – Minors, Irresponsible Consumption, Health Claims, Dangerous Activities

In line with Google’s alcohol ad best practices, neither sales nor informational ads can target minors. Your ads also can not encourage excessive drinking. An example of this would be displaying ads where drinking competitions are part of the visuals. 

Furthermore, ads that show individuals drinking while driving, operating any equipment, or involved in an activity that requires attentiveness are against Google’s policies. 

Alcohol ads also cannot recommend alcoholic drinks as remedies for health issues or suggest any medical benefits of alcohol consumption. 

Country-Specific Rules & Geo-Targeting

Alcohol legislation differs across countries, and Google adapts its ad policy to align with local regulations. Therefore, you’ll discover that your ads won’t run in countries where alcohol is illegal. Additionally, some countries, like Iceland, only permit the sale of alcohol below a specific ABV percentage, and these regulations apply to your ads. 

Permitted Countries – List and Nuances

Google has a list of countries where you can run sales ads for alcoholic products. These countries include: 

• Albania
• Argentina
• Australia
• Austria
• Belgium
• Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Brazil
• Bulgaria
• Cambodia
• Canada
• Chile
• Colombia
• Costa Rica
• Cyprus
• Czech Republic
• Denmark
• Ecuador
• Estonia
• France
• Germany
• Ghana
• Greece
• Hong Kong
• Hungary
• Iceland
• India
• Ireland
• Israel
• Italy
• Japan
• Kenya
• Latvia
• Luxembourg
• Malta
• Mexico
• Montenegro
• Netherlands
• New Zealand
• Nigeria
• Panama
• Peru
• Philippines
• Portugal
• Puerto Rico
• Romania
• Senegal
• Singapore
• Slovakia
• South Africa
• Spain
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• Uganda
• Ukraine
• United Kingdom
• United States
• Uruguay
• Vietnam
  

However, in some of these locations, you can only advertise alcoholic beverages under a defined ABV percentage. You must also clearly state the highest alcohol by volume (ABV) percentage on your landing page. Countries with these limitations are listed in the table below:

Alcohol companies targeting Poland can only run informational and branding ads for beer, and they must apply for Google’s approval to do this.

Prohibited Countries – Full Block List

Google’s alcohol restrictions mean you cannot run ads in any countries outside the approved list. This includes regions like Russia, the UAE, and Norway. Here’s a full list of locations where alcohol ads are prohibited:

• Algeria
• Angola
• Bahrain
• Bangladesh
• Belarus
• Cameroon
• Cote d’Ivoire
• Dominican Republic
• Ecuador
• Egypt
• El Salvador
• Ethiopia
• Finland
• Georgia
• Guatemala
• India
• Indonesia
• Jordan
• Kazakhstan
• Kuwait
• Lebanon
• Madagascar
• Malaysia
• Mauritius
• Morocco
• Mozambique
• Myanmar (Burma)
• Nepal
• Nicaragua
• Norway
• Oman
• Pakistan
• Paraguay
• Poland
• Russia
• Saudi Arabia
• South Korea
• Sri Lanka
• Taiwan
• Tanzania
• Thailand
• Tunisia
• Turkey
• United Arab Emirates
• Uzbekistan
• Venezuela
• Vietnam
• Zambia
• Zimbabwe
  

In India, only alcohol sales ads are allowed on Google. The country has a ban on promoting alcoholic products, and this regulation covers digital alcohol advertising on the web and other online channels. 

That said, if you submit an alcohol ad targeting permitted and prohibited locations, Google will approve it with an “Eligible (limited)” status. This means that it will only run in the approved countries and not in the restricted regions. 

How to Set Up Compliant Alcohol Ads on Google

If you intend to run alcohol ads on Google, you must treat compliance as a necessity. One overlooked detail during your alcohol campaign setup could see your ads disapproved—or worse, your account suspended. This section will walk you through how to set up compliant alcohol ads on Google:

1. Research Local Laws & Platform Eligibility

Since alcohol sale and promotion depend on local laws, you must ensure that you can legally run ads in the market you’re targeting. Review and understand all regulations related to advertising alcoholic beverages, including age limitations, prohibited products, and restricted digital platforms. 

Some countries, like India, have varying rules from state to state. For instance, the legal drinking age in Goa is 18. In contrast, state laws in Delhi allow the consumption of alcohol for individuals aged 25 and older. In other words, if your ads target specific states in a country, you must understand the laws in those locations for compliance. 

2. Apply for Alcohol Advertiser Certification

Polish regulations only allow informational and branding advertisements for beer. If you’re targeting audiences in Poland, you must apply for an alcohol ad certification from Google.

Google will request specific details for this certification, including your contact details, company name, website, and Google Ads customer ID. 

3. Choose Campaign Type (Search, Display, Video)

When it comes to campaign type, Google offers five options to advertisers: Search, Display, Video, Shopping, and App. The ideal option for you depends on your goals and the buying behavior of your customers.

For instance, search ads help your alcohol brand rank for specific keywords on Google’s search results. As such, they’re recommended if your audience spends significant time browsing Google’s search pages for your products.

4. Configure Age & Location Targeting

Your age and location targeting settings must align with Google’s ad policy. While creating your campaign, ensure that you only target approved locations and audiences that have attained the legal drinking age in those regions. As an extra step for compliance, you can use Google’s exclusion tools to exclude restricted locations from your target audience.

If you’re setting up YouTube alcohol ads, ensure to restrict your promotional visuals from displaying on content made for kids and families. 

5. Create Responsible Ad Copy & Creative

Your ad copy, images, and videos should not contain irresponsible marketing messaging, such as suggesting health benefits related to alcohol consumption. They should also not promote alcohol as a social status enhancer or encourage excessive drinking. Keep all creatives in your campaign aligned with Google’s ad policy for alcohol products. 

6. Submit Ads for Manual Review & Appeals

Your ads are automatically submitted for review once you’re done with the creation process. During the alcohol ad review, Google will evaluate the content alongside other factors like your website and cookie usage. The review typically takes a few hours. After the review, your ad will display one of these statuses: Approved, Disapproved, or Certificate Required (for alcohol ads that require advertiser certification). 

Common Disapproval Reasons & Troubleshooting 

Google will reject your ad if it violates the policy related to geo-targeting, age-targeting, or responsible messaging. Your ad will also not run if your landing page lacks age-gating features or products with ABV percentages. If you’re facing any of these challenges, here’s a quick guide on troubleshooting your alcohol ad:

• Go to the Ads section in the Campaigns menu.
• Hover your mouse over the “Disapproved” text in the Status column, 
• Click “Read the Policy” to discover the issue with your ad.
• Go back to the Ads section and hover over the ad.
• Click Edit and tweak the ad to adhere to the guidelines.
• Tap Save to resubmit your ad for review.

Alternatives to Google for Alcohol Advertising – Blockchain-Ads Platform

Google’s strict ad policy means you’ll likely encounter a handful of hassles before your ad can run on the Display or Search network. One unintended compliance breach could delay your campaign with disapproved alcohol ads or even a suspended account. 

You can avoid these issues by choosing an ad network, such as Blockchain-Ads, that delivers effective and compliant campaigns for highly regulated markets. Brands like Moët Hennessy use Blockchain-Ads to run effective campaigns that earn high conversion rates and ROAS within 180 days. 

Why Blockchain-Ads?

Blockchain-Ads is built for regulated industries like alcohol, CBD, gambling, and financial services, so its core features map directly to the challenges alcohol brands face. The platform helps you reach legal‑age, high‑intent drinkers using interest, behavioral, attention, and on‑chain intent signals. 

With Blockchain-Ads, your alcohol campaigns can be:

• Served across smart display, native, video, in‑app/mobile, and CTV/OTT inventory.
• Placed on 10,000+ sites and apps, with more than 1 billion daily impressions. 

This gives alcohol brands a reach that feels similar to Google’s Display and YouTube ecosystem, but with controls and creative policies tailored to regulated products.

FAQs

Are alcohol ads allowed on Google?

Yes, you can run alcohol ads on Google. However, your ads must comply with local laws, not target minors and unapproved locations, and feature responsible messaging. If you fail to adhere to this policy, you could face some serious penalties, including a possible suspension of your ad account. 

Can alcohol ads show people drinking?

Absolutely. However, your ads must not encourage excessive drinking, suggest taking alcohol for health benefits, or showcase consumption while performing activities that require alertness. 

Are alcohol ads banned on Google?

Alcohol ads are only banned on Google in specific locations where the promotion or sale of these products is illegal. These regions include Pakistan, Norway, Kuwait, and the UAE.

Can you advertise alcohol on social media?

Yes, you can advertise alcohol on social media platforms like Facebook and X. However, ensure your ads comply with local laws, age restrictions, responsible marketing guidelines, and other platform-specific requirements.

What are the main requirements for running alcohol ads on Google?

Google alcohol ads must adhere to local regulations, apply for certification where necessary, comply with age and location guidelines, and use responsible messaging.

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