How do regulated advertisers keep ads inside legal jurisdictions?
Part of US and Canada targeting
The short answer
Regulated advertisers keep ads inside legal jurisdictions with layers: platform certification for each state or province, presence based location targeting, exclusions around the edge, age controls, publisher choice and a delivery audit by location. Google states that location targeting is a best effort and that 100% accuracy is not guaranteed, so each layer covers gaps in the others.
Key takeaways
- Platform eligibility comes first: Google ties gambling, CBD, alcohol and healthcare ads to certification and allowed locations before any targeting setting matters.
- Presence targeting is narrower than the default Presence or Interest option, but Google says it reaches people likely to be located or regularly located in an area, not proof of where they are at the moment of the ad.
- Google may show ads in nearby, closely related areas and says 100% accuracy is not guaranteed, so border buffers and exclusions matter.
- A publisher's home base says nothing about where its readers are; the bid request carries device location separately from the site.
- Audits compare targeted and matched locations and treat unknown or unspecified rows as unexplained delivery, not as compliant delivery.
Which platform rules come before any geo setting?
For regulated categories, the first geographic limit is set by the platform's policy, not by the campaign. Google's gambling and games policy (opens in a new tab) allows online gambling ads only in listed countries and only after certification, so a location outside the certification is not eligible whatever the targeting says. The law pages in this cluster cover each regulator's rules; this page covers the mechanics of staying inside them.
| Category | Canada | United States | Extra condition |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sports betting, online casinos, fantasy sports | Operators "must be licensed by the relevant province and target only that province" | Advertisers must "not target users under 21 or users outside of the state(s) where they are licensed" | Certification; a gambling warning on the landing page or in the creative |
| Daily fantasy sports (US) | Covered by the Canada gambling row | "Ads may not target minors (younger than 18 years old)" plus a state license where required | Adult only disclaimer and problem gambling information |
| Cannabis and CBD | Google announced "a limited pilot program in Canada" for specific legally allowed product types | Google's CBD section says advertisers apply to advertise and "only target California, Colorado, and Puerto Rico" | Recreational marijuana ads are prohibited under the recreational drugs policy |
| Alcohol | On the allowed country list | On the allowed country list | Display Network ads can show on partner properties that have "opted-in" to such content |
| Healthcare and medicines | Location specific rules | Location specific rules | Certified domains run as Eligible (limited) in allowed locations, per Google's healthcare policy |
Which geo settings matter for gambling and cannabis ads?
In Google Ads the key choice is the location option. Google's advanced location options (opens in a new tab) page says the default, Presence or Interest, reaches people in, regularly in, or who have shown interest in the targeted locations, and that advertisers should consider Presence when a "business falls within a sensitive vertical with strict targeting limitations." These options apply to the Search Network, the Display Network and Demand Gen. The location presence page explains the setting itself.
Definition
- Presence targeting
- A Google Ads location option that shows ads to people who are likely to be located, or regularly located, in the targeted areas. It drops people who only showed interest in those areas, but regular presence is a pattern, not a live position.
Geo setup for a regulated campaign before launch
- The certification or license covers each state or province in the location list, and the list names nothing outside it.
- The location option is Presence on each campaign where Google offers the choice, set in Google Ads and in Google Ads Editor.
- Neighboring states or provinces where the product is not licensed are added as location exclusions.
- Cities and postal codes that straddle a border are reviewed by hand, and a buffer zone inside the line is used where the brief allows.
- Age settings meet the policy's age floor, such as 21 for US sports betting or 18 for US daily fantasy sports.
- For Canadian cannabis promotion, the plan records the reasonable steps taken to stop young persons from accessing it online.
- In Display & Video 360, the line item uses regional targeting, and its Troubleshooter geography section is bookmarked for the first day of delivery.
Cannabis in Canada adds an audience rule on top of geography. Health Canada's promotion prohibitions page (opens in a new tab) says that for promotion online, the person responsible must have "taken reasonable steps to ensure that the promotion cannot be accessed by a young person," and that it is "prohibited to publish, broadcast or otherwise disseminate, on behalf of another person" a promotion the Act forbids. A province setting alone does not meet that test.
How accurate is geo restriction near borders?
Google's page on how it determines location (opens in a new tab) says location is typically based on the IP address, that a phone on a carrier's proxy server may be located by "the carrier IP," and that GPS, Wi-Fi and cell tower data vary in accuracy. It also says that when you target an area, Google may show the ad "to customers in nearby, closely related areas" that could not otherwise be targeted. Its closing caveat: "100% accuracy is not guaranteed in every situation."
| Source of error | What happens | Control |
|---|---|---|
| Carrier IP on mobile | A phone may be placed at the carrier's network location, not the person's | Exclude the neighboring jurisdiction; audit mobile delivery separately |
| Nearby related areas | Small or data poor areas may be served from a target next door | Target whole states or provinces, not small towns on the line |
| Regular presence | A commuter who regularly visits the area can still qualify | Presence setting plus exclusions; accept that commuters exist |
| Bid time and serve time reports | DV360 reports bid time location; Campaign Manager 360 reports serve time | Compare reports from the same stage before calling a gap a breach |
| Unknown location | Some requests carry no location the platform can resolve | Count unknown rows in the audit, never as compliant by default |
The bid request shows why. The OpenRTB 2.6 specification (opens in a new tab) defines Device.geo as the device location "assumed to be the user's current location" and User.geo as the user's home base, "not necessarily their current location." Its accuracy field is "the accuracy as reported from the device."
Should site lists be limited by publisher location?
A site list cannot stand in for location targeting. In OpenRTB 2.6 the Site object describes the website and its publisher, while location sits on the Device and User objects, so a site based in Kansas can serve a reader in Missouri or Manitoba. Restricting a list to publishers headquartered inside a licensed state removes good local inventory and still leaves the reader's location unchecked.
Site choice still matters for regulated brands in two ways. First, the audience mix: Chrome UX Report country data, which Chrome says is "inferred from users' IP addresses," shows whether a site's readers are mainly in the target country, which lowers the volume of out of area requests a geo filter must catch. Second, content: a sports site with a large youth readership or a site aimed at children conflicts with the age rules in the table above, whatever its location.
Four checks on a regulated site list
- Read the audience by country. Prefer sites whose public popularity data shows readers in the target country, and note sites with no data instead of guessing.
- Read the content for age appeal. Drop sites and sections aimed at minors, such as youth sports leagues or school sports coverage.
- Check opt-in where the platform requires it. For alcohol on the Display Network, Google says ads can show on partner properties that opted in.
- Keep location targeting on. Treat the list as a content and audience filter that sits beside the geo settings, never in place of them.
How do you audit where regulated ads served?
Google's geographic performance documentation (opens in a new tab) separates targeted locations from matched locations, which "could be users' physical locations or locations of interest." It warns that unspecified rows appear when Google "can't determine the location from the IP address," and that metrics below country level "may not add up to campaign totals." In Display & Video 360 (opens in a new tab), the Troubleshooter's geography section compares targeted countries with impressions per country, and "N/A" means DV360 could not determine a dimension from the IP address.
What does a regulated geo plan look like on a real brief?
Fictional example
A daily fantasy sports operator on one side of a state line
An unnamed daily fantasy sports operator, licensed in Kansas only for this brief, plans a football season display and online video campaign in the Kansas side of the Kansas City metro: Overland Park, Olathe and Kansas City, Kansas. The metro spans the Missouri line, so the planner treats the border as the main risk.
The planner confirms the operator's Google certification, sets Kansas as the only target with the Presence option, adds Missouri as an exclusion and leaves out border postal codes where the brief allows. Age targeting starts at 18, matching Google's daily fantasy sports rule, and the landing page carries the adult only disclaimer and problem gambling information.
The site list favors sports, local news and fantasy analysis sites with a US audience, and drops high school sports coverage for its youth readership. After the first week the planner pulls matched locations, finds Missouri rows on mobile traffic, tightens the buffer and records the unknown share in a dated audit note for the operator's compliance lead.
How can PlacementGraph help a regulated brief stay audience first?
Frequently asked questions
Does a radius around a licensed venue keep ads inside the state?
Not on its own. A radius drawn near a border can cross it, and Google says it may also serve nearby, closely related areas. Pair the radius with a state or province target, an exclusion for the neighbor and a check of matched locations once delivery starts.
Do VPN users break geo restrictions?
A VPN can place a person at the VPN server's location, since Google says location is typically based on the IP address. That is one reason Google states 100% accuracy is not guaranteed. Exclusions and dated audits are the controls an advertiser can show for it.
Can a regulated brand use YouTube channel placements to stay in one province?
No. A channel placement chooses content, not viewers' locations, and a channel's audience can sit in several countries. Channel placements narrow where ads appear by topic; the location target and its exclusions still decide who can be reached.
What does Eligible (limited) mean for a regulated ad?
It is a Google policy status. On the alcohol policy page, a campaign that targets both allowed and disallowed locations is labeled Eligible (limited): the ads run in the allowed locations and not in the others. A campaign aimed only at disallowed locations is Disapproved and does not run at all.
Sources
- Gambling and games policy (opens in a new tab)Google Advertising Policies Help
- Recreational drugs policy (opens in a new tab)Google Advertising Policies Help
- Alcohol policy (opens in a new tab)Google Advertising Policies Help
- Healthcare and medicines policy (opens in a new tab)Google Advertising Policies Help
- About advanced location options (opens in a new tab)Google Ads Help
- About targeting geographic locations (opens in a new tab)Google Ads Help
- About measuring geographic performance (opens in a new tab)Google Ads Help
- Geography targeting (opens in a new tab)Display & Video 360 Help
- Promotion prohibitions under the Cannabis Act (opens in a new tab)Health Canada
- OpenRTB 2.6 specification (opens in a new tab)IAB Tech Lab
- Chrome UX Report dimensions (opens in a new tab)Chrome for Developers
Researched and written by PlacementGraph Research. Read how we research, source and update these pages. Corrections: diana@placementgraph.com.