Google to End Gambling Ad Certification for Croatia From October

^{Google Ads will stop certifying gambling-promoting content targeting Croatia from 7 October. (Photo: OutreachPete / Wikimedia Commons)}

Google will end certification for online gambling-promoting advertising targeting Croatia from 7 October 2026, according to an update to its Gambling and games advertising policy.

The change, posted to Google's Advertising Policies Help Centre on 9 September, states that from the effective date "our updated policy will disallow all promotion of online gambling-promoting content targeting Croatia." All existing certifications held by advertisers of gambling-promoting content will be revoked, and Google will no longer accept new applications for that certification.

Affiliates and Comparison Sites Lose Their Certification Route

Google's notice specifies that "promotion of online gambling will not be affected by this policy update," meaning licensed operators advertising their own products in Croatia can continue to do so. The restriction targets gambling-promoting content — the affiliate, comparison and aggregator sites that direct traffic to operators rather than operate under a gambling licence themselves.

That distinction means Croatian licensed operators keep their existing route to Google Ads, while affiliates and comparison sites that have relied on the platform to reach Croatian players lose that option entirely once the certifications are revoked.

Part of a Wider Pattern of Country-Specific Restrictions

The Croatia update is one of several country-specific changes Google has made to its gambling advertising policy in 2026, following earlier revisions covering Vietnam and Peru. In July, Google also expanded certification requirements to all categories under its global Gambling and games policy, tightening the eligibility bar for advertisers across markets rather than restricting individual countries outright.

Google Ads has periodically adjusted its approach to gambling-adjacent advertising formats beyond formal certification changes, including a 2023 update restricting how social casino apps could be advertised after concerns about how free-to-play gambling-style games were marketed to users.

Advertisers and affiliates operating in the Croatian market now have just over three weeks to adjust before the 7 October deadline, after which any gambling-promoting content targeting the country will be ineligible to run on Google Ads regardless of prior certification status.

The move adds Croatia to a growing list of European markets where platforms and regulators have tightened rules around gambling advertising in the past year, a trend that has left operators navigating an increasingly fragmented patchwork of European gambling ad regulations depending on the jurisdiction they are targeting.

Google has not published guidance on how it will enforce the restriction beyond certification revocation, and has not said whether further country-specific updates to the gambling policy are planned before the end of 2026.

Google's certification system for gambling advertisers already requires applicants to hold a valid licence in the country they are targeting and to comply with local advertising standards before their ads can run. Revoking certifications for gambling-promoting content in Croatia effectively closes that route for any advertiser that does not itself hold an operating licence there, regardless of how long it has held certification in the past.

Industry commentators covering the update have noted that the policy text draws a clear line between an operator promoting its own licensed product and a third party promoting gambling content more broadly — a distinction that has become increasingly common in how platforms and regulators define enforcement scope. The change follows a series of gambling-policy updates Google has made through 2026, part of an ongoing effort to tighten certification requirements across its advertising products as national regulators pay closer attention to how gambling content reaches consumers online. The update is documented in full on Google's Advertising Policies Help Centre.