Smart campaigns: Microsoft Advertising policies

Learn about Microsoft Advertising policies for all countries/regions, including policies for ads, style, disallowed content, privacy, and more.
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The key to success in online advertising is creating ads that are relevant, clear, and accurate. To help you do just that, we have a detailed Microsoft Advertising policies website laying out what makes a great ad and what is and isn't allowed in an ad.

When you create a smart campaign, edit an ad, or add an ad, all of your ad text goes through a review against these policies. So familiarizing yourself with the policies before you submit can make your approval process much quicker. Think of them as the playbook that'll lead you to victory!


Microsoft Advertising policies cover the following areas (Note: Some of these policies are not relevant to smart campaigns):

Ad content and style expando image

Visit the Ad style policies page for details on:

  • General ad text policies
  • Capitalization
  • Grammar and punctuation
  • Phone numbers
  • Spelling
  • Symbols, special characters, and abbreviations
  • Word count and character limits

Visit the Ad content policies page for details on:

  • Duplicate ads
  • Use of foreign language

Visit the URLs and landing page policies page for details on:

  • URL types
  • Destination and landing page URL
  • Display URL
  • URL mismatch
  • Acceptable URL mismatch
  • URL characters
  • Landing page
  • Site behavior and navigation
Adult content expando image

Visit the Adult content policies page for details on:

  • Definition
  • Disallowed adult content
  • Adult advertising participation
  • Adult keywords and advertising
  • Adding adult keywords to your campaign
  • Adult advertising policies
Note

To participate in the Adult Advertising Program, complete and submit the Adult advertising program participation form.

Financial products and services expando image

Visit the Financial products and services policies page for details on:

  • Restricted products and services
  • Finance
Gambling and contests expando image

Visit the Gambling and contests policies page for details on:

  • Disallowed gambling content
  • Markets that permit gambling advertising
  • Gambling and contests advertising participation
  • Responsible gaming messaging
  • Contests and competitions
Intellectual property expando image

Visit the Intellectual property policies page for details on:

  • Definitions
  • Trademark owner
  • Trademark infringement investigations
  • Counterfeit policy
  • Copyright policy
Microsoft Audience Ads expando image

Visit the Microsoft Audience Ads policies page for details on:

  • Content not allowed in audience ads
  • Content that requires age targeting
Pharmacy and health care products and services expando image

Visit the Pharmacy and health care products and services policies page for details on:

  • Pharmacy and prescription-only medicines
  • Health care products and services
  • Weight loss
  • Family planning
Product Ads and media format expando image

Visit the Image, audio, and video policies page for details on:

  • Image ad functionalities
  • Nudity, offensive advertising
  • Image quality
  • Audio
  • Video
  • Intellectual property rights
  • Endorsements and testimonials
  • Online tracking technologies

Visit the Ad Extensions policies page for details on:

  • App extensions
  • Sitelink extensions
  • Location extensions
  • Phone numbers and ad call extensions
  • Image extensions
  • Review extensions
  • Callout extensions

Visit the Product Ads policies page for details on:

  • Advertising policies
  • Product description and conditions
  • Pricing
  • Savings and rebate claims
  • Subscription offers
  • Images
  • Restricted and disallowed categories
  • Adult advertisers
  • Security at checkout
  • Performance exclusions
  • Online tracking technologies
  • Use of product feed data

Visit the Remarketing in paid search policies page for details on:

  • Privacy policy
  • Behavioral targeting opt-out
  • Sensitive categories
  • Microsoft Advertising disallowed products and services
  • Underage users
  • Web properties directed to children
  • Tracking tag misuse
  • Precise geo-location on mobile devices
  • Association of additional personal data
  • Third-party data providers
Relevance and quality expando image

Visit the Relevance and quality policies page for details on:

  • How does this policy affect your ad delivery?
  • Keyword relevancy
  • Ad copy (title, text, and display URL)
  • Marketplace exclusion
  • Landing page and site user experience
  • Landing page and site content quality
Restricted and disallowed content expando image

Visit the Disallowed content policies page for details on:

  • Areas of questionable legality
  • Dating
  • Defamatory, slanderous, libelous, or threatening content
  • Hate speech
  • Online gaming
  • Peer-to-peer file sharing
  • Political and religious content
  • Sensitive advertising
  • Suffering and violence
  • Unregulated user-generated content
  • Usenet

Visit the Disallowed products and services policies page for details on:

  • Alcohol
  • Responsible drinking messaging
  • Deceptive products and services
  • Drugs and related paraphernalia
  • Endangered/threatened species products or services
  • Fireworks and explosives
  • Infant feeding
  • Tobacco and electronic cigarettes
  • Weapons, knives, firearms, and ammunition
User safety and privacy expando image

Visit the Misleading content policies page for details on:

  • Unsubstantiated claims
  • Free offers and price promises
  • Misleading ads
  • Promotion of third-party products and services

Visit the Privacy and data protection policies page for details on:

  • Privacy policy
  • Phishing

Visit the Software and downloads policies page for details on:

  • Disallowed behaviors
  • Disclosures
  • Uninstall functionality
  • Bundling functionality
Note

Many policies vary by the country/region in which the ad is displayed. On each policy page, these variations are called out by country/region name.

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