More than three million Australians are on dating apps. While some individuals are genuinely looking for love, others including criminal and large-scale scam organisations are weaponising such platforms to target vulnerable communities. For instance, through promotion of underage dating, sexual services, and deceptive dating practices.
According to a survey conducted by the Australian Institute of Criminology, out of 10,000 respondents, 8.3% reported experiencing online sexual harassment and/or violence through a dating platform. Likewise, 14.7% reported experiencing in-person sexual harassment of violence through someone they met through one of these platforms.
Additionally, a report by the American Psychological Association (APA) revealed that as of 2022, up to 19% of teens have fallen victim to sexual or physical dating violence, with about half of them facing stalking and harassment, and 65% being psychologically abused.
Due to such alarming rates of violence and harassment, Google has revealed that dating and companionship advertisers will be subjected to a new ad policy. Set to come into force by March next year, the new policy will require advertisers to obtain relevant certification before running their ads on Google.
In line with this, Google is also updating its “Inappropriate Content” and “Sexual Content” policy to extend the dating and companionship ads policy coverage.
What does the dating & companionship ad policy entail?
Well, the rules are quite simple really. According to Google, the types of ads that will be prohibited include those that–
- Promote underage dating
- Utilise misleading images or text on landing pages
- Promote services for paid companionship, dating or sexual acts
- Promote exploitative and deceptive dating practices
- Promote mail-order spouses.
Similarly, sites and ads that promote hook-ups, flings, affairs, fetish dating, and utilise racy content will also be removed and/or restricted. According to Google, ads are restricted according to the category it falls under, user age and SafeSearch settings.
Advertisers will now need to submit an application to Google directly if they wish to run an ad related to dating and companionship. The application will give Google the information they need about an ad before deciding to let it run or reject it all together.
This might lead to some ads only being approved in specific countries or have age restrictions placed on them. Similarly, existing ads may need to be re-certified. This might require changes to the ad’s content to align with the new policies.
As of now, advertisers have until March 4th to align their advertising campaigns with the new guidelines or risk losing the opportunity to advertise with Google in the future.
What marketers need to know
If you’re a marketer relying on Google Ads for dating and companionship campaigns, it is critical that you comply with the new policy. Start by reviewing current ad campaigns and site landing pages to identify any content that may be in violation of Google’s new ad rules. Then, make sure to certify the existing content to mitigate the risk of ad suspension.
Google will likely reveal more details about the changes as the March 4th deadline nears, but till then, Google’s current policy page provides sufficient information for dating and companionship advertisers to refine their advertising strategies.