Google's reported October 2025 policy update explicitly placed sweepstake casinos outside its social casino games category, narrowing how those products could be classified for advertising.
Google clarified its advertising policy on October 28, 2025, stating that sweepstake casinos fell outside its social casino games category and were ineligible for certification under that policy.
The distinction turns on rewards. Google's clarification directed games offering real-world rewards to the restrictions and allowances in its online-gambling policy. Its social casino policy covers simulated gambling-style games with no opportunity to win something of value.
For advertisers, the change meant that social casino certification could not be used for a sweepstake casino product. Whether an advertisement could run depended on the separate gambling rules; the clarification did not announce a universal ban on every sweepstake casino advertisement.