Meta allows RMG advertising in India with prior permission

Meta has revised its advertising rules for online gambling and gaming companies, including those based in India. According to the updated guidelines released on Thursday, advertisers promoting real money gaming (RMG) must secure written approval from Meta before running their ads. Additionally, these advertisements are prohibited from being directed at users under 18 years of age.

Meta defines online gambling and games as any product or service where anything of monetary value is included as part of a method of entry and prize. Ads that promote online gambling and gaming are only allowed with our prior written permission. Authorised advertisers must follow all applicable laws and include targeting criteria consistent with Meta's targeting requirements. At a minimum, ads may not be targeted to people under 18 years of age, according to the information on the company’s site.

“To run ads that promote online gambling and gaming, advertisers will need to request written permission from Meta using this form and provide evidence that the gambling activities are appropriately licensed by a regulator or otherwise established as lawful in territories that they want to target. Additionally, Meta doesn't allow targeting for online gambling and gaming ads to people under the age of 18,” the page mentioned.

Please be aware that not all types of online gambling and gaming can be applied in every territory, Meta mentioned.

Meta has listed some guidelines for RMG ads:

In order to promote the following, written permission is required:

• All forms of online gambling. Some common types of gambling include betting, lotteries, raffles, casino games, fantasy sports, bingo, poker, skill game tournaments and sweepstakes.
• Games where anything of monetary value is included as part of a method of entry and anything of monetary value is included as part of the prize, including but not limited to cash or digital currencies such as Bitcoin. This includes games that require purchases to continue gameplay or provide an advantage in winning prizes in cases where the prize is of monetary value.
• Ads with destination (landing) pages that contain promotions for online gambling or games, even if there is no opportunity to gamble or game directly on that page, such as aggregator or affiliate sites.
• Games offering a limited trial period and requiring payment thereafter

Advertisers who receive permission cannot target ads to people under the age of 18. 

Authorised advertisers should not promote gambling and gaming ads where gambling content is locally not permitted and are responsible for understanding local laws surrounding gambling and gaming ads in the locations where they operate.