Google will expand online gambling and social casino advertising to the Philippines through its Authorized Buyers marketplace on August 10, 2026, and will drop the requirement for programmatic buyers to certify individual advertisers before those ads can run in the country. The company disclosed the change in a service email sent to AdSense publishers on July 20.
The update applies only to Authorized Buyers, the programmatic marketplace where demand-side platforms and ad networks bid on publisher inventory. It does not change the separate Google Ads gambling policy, which still requires advertisers to hold a Google certification before their campaigns can serve. Under the new terms, buyers on the programmatic side no longer need to certify each end advertiser in the affected markets.
The expansion arrives as Philippine regulators move in the opposite direction on online gambling access. In August 2025, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas issued Memorandum No. M-2025-029, which ordered e-wallets and other supervised institutions to remove in-app links to gambling sites. GCash and Maya suspended access to their gaming features on August 16 that year. The order followed a Senate Committee on Games and Amusement inquiry into the social costs of online betting. Online gambling in the country remains regulated by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR), which licenses operators.
According to Google’s email, the creative categories covered by the change include online casinos and sportsbooks, bingo and slot machine sites and apps, online lottery ticket and scratch card purchases, online sports betting, and games that use virtual currencies with real-world value. Serving is tied to compliance with local laws and industry standards in each market. The Philippines is one of 37 territories named in the notice, alongside Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan, Mexico, Spain, and the United Kingdom.
Before the change, the United States was the only market where online gambling ads could run on Open Auction and Private Auction within Authorized Buyers, and only with certification. Social casino gaming, which Google treats as a separate category, will still require an Authorized Buyers certification. Advertisers in that category must include an age disclaimer, hold a valid local license where applicable, and state that their games do not offer real-money gambling or prizes of real-world value.
The move runs alongside a tightening of Google’s rules elsewhere. In November 2025, the company added the Philippines to a list of markets where advertising for offline, brick-and-mortar gambling is prohibited. Domestically, lawmakers have cited the scale of the sector as a concern. Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri told the Senate hearing that online gambling revenues reached ₱135.71 billion in 2024, up from ₱8 billion in 2022.
Google told publishers they may see more online gambling ads on their sites in certain markets once the change takes effect. Publishers who want to limit that inventory can use AdSense controls to block ads by category or by buyer. The full policy text is scheduled for publication on the Authorized Buyers policy page on August 10.
