Ad Policies

Prohibited content

Illegal Products or Services

Advertising for any products or services that are illegal in the country or territory where the ads will be place shall be prohibited at all times.

This category may include drugs, weapons, fireworks, etc.

Drugs and Related Products

Content promoting any illegal drugs (in the territory where the ad will be displayed) and paraphernalia shall be prohibited at all times.

Drug paraphernalia includes any equipment, products and materials of any kind which are used, intended for use or designed for use, in planting, propagating, cultivating, growing, harvesting, manufacturing, compounding, converting, producing, processing, preparing, testing, analyzing, packaging, repackaging, storing, concealing, containing, ingesting, inhaling or otherwise introducing into the human body a controlled substance.

India:
Advertisements relating to use of a ‘magic remedy’ (including but not limited to talismans, mantra, kavacha, or any other charm of any kind which is alleged to possess miraculous powers) for procurement of miscarriage, prevent of contraception for women, correction of menstrual disorders, or maintenance or improvement of sexual pleasure shall be prohibited at all times.
Advertisements suggesting use of a ‘magic remedy’ for the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment or prevention of diseases and conditions shall be prohibited at all times.

Weapons, ammunition and explosives

Content promoting weapons, ammunition and explosives shall be prohibited at all times.

For the purposes of this section, Weapons shall be defined as an object designed or used for inflicting bodily or physical harm and damage.

As a matter of exception, gun shops and retailers may be able to advertise their business by complying with the laws and regulations of where the advertisement will be displayed. These exceptions shall be granted on a case by case basis and require prior review and approval from Teads.

Adult Content

Adult content will be prohibited on the Teads Inventory at all times.

Adult content includes, but is not limited to: pornography, sexually suggestive content, nudity, explicit images.

Adult content also includes illegal, non-consensual, denigrating, obscene or violent activity which may include brutality, torture, illegal drug use, prostitution, rape, incest, strippers, strip clubs, body paint images, implied sexual activity, excessive cleavage, provocative position, and escorts.

Content advertising sexual enhancers, products aimed at increasing sex drive, increasing size or sexual organs or increasing sexual endurance shall also be prohibited on Teads Inventory.

Lingerie advertisements cannot be risqué, display any nudity or sexually suggestive.

Furthermore, lingerie advertisements will be restricted with regard to content and shall be approved on a case by case basis before they can be displayed. Lingerie content may also be illegal or prohibited in certain countries or regions.

Risqué advertisements shall be prohibited at all times. Risqué advertisements include sexually suggestive, indecent, racy or content that is meant to induce shock.

Misleading or False Content and Scams

Content that gives information which is misleading or false, whether intentional or otherwise, shall be prohibited at all times.

Bait advertisements shall be prohibited at all times unless expressly specified as legal under applicable regulations. Where allowed, bait advertisements must comply with all regulatory restrictions.

No advertisements shall be accepted for any product or service that promises a cure, prevention, treatment or reversal of any disease, condition or illness, especially those with no cure.

No advertisements will be accepted for any product or services that have a high likelihood of being a scam or fraud.

India:
Content that deliberately conceals important information to consumers shall be prohibited at all times.
Content that does not comply with the Guidelines for Prevention of Misleading Advertisements and Endorsements for Misleading Advertisements, 2022 issued under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 shall be prohibited at all times.

Profane, Vulgar and Graphic Content

Profanity and vulgarity shall not be allowed on the Teads Inventory.

Profanity shall include blasphemous, profane or obscene language and swear words. Any content intentionally misspelling or modifying grammar or spacing in order to obscure use of profanity shall also be prohibited. As a matter of example, this may be: S. hit or S@ !t.

Vulgar content includes reference or depiction of non-sexual bodily functions or body parts, lewd or crude content or jokes.

Graphic content will never be allowed on the Teads inventory. This means that Teads will not allow grotesque, sensitive or disturbing content. Some examples include, but are not limited to: blood, open wounds, dead bodies, and torture devices.

Payday and Cash Advance Loans

Payday or cash advance loans, which are loans for a small amount of money at a high interest which are repaid with the borrowers next paycheck, are prohibited on the Teads Inventory.

Penny Auctions

Penny Auctions, or bidding fee auctions, where participants pay a non-refundable fee to place incremental bids, are prohibited on the Teads Inventory.

Multi-Level Marketing

At no time shall multi level marketing schemes be allowed to be advertised on Teads Inventory. Multi-Level Marketing is any marketing scheme for the sale of products or services where the revenue of the advertiser is derived from a non-salaried workforce selling their products or services, while the earnings or the participants are derived from a pyramid or binary compensation commission system.

Counterfeit Documents or Products

No counterfeit documents or products shall not be placed on the Teads Inventory.

Counterfeit documents include, but are not limited to: falsified licenses, passports or any government issued ID, among others.

Counterfeit products shall include, but are not limited to: “knock-off” products, pirated products (videos, records, CDs), grey market products (without the consent of the brand), products using a copyright or trademark without the brands knowledge or consent and products with confusingly similar logos or names (ex. Coach vs. Goach, Gucci vs. Guccy).

Prohibited Financial and Legal Services

Content that promotes investment offers, solicits money, bail bonds, currency exchanges, services for credit repair or loan products shall not be accepted on the Teads network.

Cryptocurrency shall be prohibited at this time on the Teads network.

Additionally, any products or services that promise to remove items from a person’s credit report shall be banned.

India:
Advertisements promoting prize chits or money circulation schemes are prohibited at all times.
Advertisements of legal practice or accounting services, whether directly or indirectly, is prohibited at all times.

Other financial services shall be discussed further in the Restricted Content section.

Fake News

Teads will not accept any advertisements for news sites that are non-satirical in nature but are evidently false or which are meant to intentionally deceive, no matter the reason.

These types of advertisements include but, are not limited to: “news” that are designed to make the person believe they are reading a legitimate editorial content or factual news; propaganda; or hoaxes. 

Dangerous Products or Services

There shall be no advertisements placed on the Teads Inventory that relate to recreational drugs or psychoactive substances, whether they are legal or illegal.

Dangerous Products or services shall include any product or service that is known to cause harm or injury (be it physical or not) or should be known to have a high probability to cause harm or injury to self or others.

Hate Speech

Any content that expresses hatred for a group, expressions that intend to demean or brutalize a person or a group, incites to hatred against a group of persons because of race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, religion, sexual orientation, etc., cruel and derogatory language, gestures or vandalism toward an individual or group or any communication that is likely to incite violence is strictly forbidden on the Teads network. This prohibition also includes any content that links to a webpage or landing page with such offensive content.

India:
Any content containing words, sound, gestures, objects or messaging which insult the modesty of a woman shall be prohibited at all times.

Defamatory Content

Content that is false or unprivileged that is harmful to someone’s reputation and published as a result of an intent to cause harm, malice or negligence will not be allowed on the Teads inventory.

Content Causing Public Unrest

Any advertisement that is likely to cause public mischief, fear or alarm to the public, or induce commission of an offence against the relevant authorities shall be prohibited at all times.

India:
Content that is prejudicial to national integration, sovereignty or integrity of India, including but not limited to content that brings or attempts to bring hatred, contempt or excites disaffection, disloyalty or feelings of enmity, towards the government shall be prohibited at all times.

Spyware or Malware

Ads must be free of spyware, malware, or any software that results in an unexpected or deceptive experience.

Restricted Content

These ads will be permitted in certain situations and may require certifications or approvals prior to the launch.

Alcohol

Any advertisements for alcoholic products must comply with local laws, regulations and codes within the territory where the ad or campaign will be displayed.

Advertisements in this category shall include specific and limited targeting restrictions.

Additional geographical restrictions and prohibitions can be found HERE.

India:
Advertisements of alcoholic products or services are prohibited in the following states/union territories: Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Odisha, Pondicherry, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, and Mizoram.

Tobacco Products

Tobacco products include: cigars, cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, pipe tobacco and roll-your-own tobacco, among others.

Tobacco products and accessories shall be prohibited on the Teads inventory for all countries except for the United States, Japan and Philippines.

United States:
Must be targeted to 21+. Content must include the required legal warning which must occupy at least 20% of the advertisement and printed at least 12 point font.

Japan:
Advertisers must abide by the Tobacco Business Act which are self-regulating principles.

Philippines:
Advertisers must abide by all requirements in tobacco-related regulations, including targeting to 18+ and, for vaping-related advertisements, comply with Republic Act No. 11900.

India:
Depictions of use of tobacco products or smoking situations when advertising other non-smoking-related goods or services shall be prohibited at all times.

Gambling

Gambling is considered to be when individuals are allowed to bet money on the outcome of an event for a chance to win either more money or a prize.

Examples of gambling include internet bingo, online casinos, offline casinos and sports betting.

Advertisements promoting free games or applications shall be allowed.

For all other types of gambling, please refer to our specific gambling guidelines HERE.

India:
Advertisements related to the publication, distribution and circulation of any news, information facilitating games of skill shall be prohibited in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Nagaland, Sikkim and Meghalaya.
Advertisements related to the publication, distribution and circulation of any news, information facilitating games of change shall be prohibited in Karnataka and Pondicherry.

Dating

Advertisements for dating services shall be allowed on the Teads inventory subject to the following restrictions:

Advertisements shall not include suggestive language or images.

Advertisements shall not promote promiscuity, one-night stands, “hook-ups” or sexual encounters.

Advertisements shall not include references to mail order spouses or international dating.

Advertisements may not contain any personalized messages or chat boxes, ex. “X amount of people have already looked for you”.

Advertisements shall not promote infidelity or casual sex.

Advertisers must present evidence that they are legitimate services registered in the territory where the advertisements will be displayed.

Advertisements must be targeted to persons over the legal age limit in the country where the advertisements shall be displayed.

Dating advertisements shall not be permitted in China.

Advertisements for dating services in Japan shall include a warning stating that it is only for 18+ year olds and shall be age gated.

Financial Services

Financial services includes, investment products, mortgage services, credit cards and any other regulated financial service.

All advertisements for financial services must follow all local laws, rules, codes and regulations.

All advertisements in this category are further regulated by our specific guidelines that can be found HERE.

Cannabis Content

Cannabis content shall include any content promoting any type of cannabinoid, including CBD products and hemp derived products.

At no time will any Cannabis content be allowed outside of the United States. This type of content will only be allowed in those states where it is legal as further detailed HERE. 

Political Content

Political content shall be allowed on the Teads inventory subject to the following restrictions.

Advertisements containing political content must comply with all local election laws and regulations of the country or territory in which the advertisements shall be displayed.

Advertisements for political content shall not be displayed where there is a legally imposed silence period.

Targeting for political advertisements shall be limited to persons over the legal age in the country or territory where the advertisements will be displayed.

No advertisements for political content shall be allowed at any time in Brazil, China, Japan, Korea and Russia.

At this time, political advertisements may only be displayed in the United States.

Additional guidelines are available HERE.

Dietary and Weight Loss Supplements

Advertisements shall not include any before and after images.

Advertisements shall not include images of obese individuals.

Advertisements shall at no time include claims about specific weight loss amounts.

Advertisements for weight loss products shall not be accepted unless it has been substantiated through two independent human clinical studies unless an appropriate disclaimer has been made in a prominent manner.

No advertisements for diet and nutrition products shall be accepted in Mexico.

For Spain, advertisements for medical weight loss procedures are prohibited. Advertisements for weight loss products must not claim any medicinal properties, must not promise specific results and must not use testimonials or endorsements.

For the United States, the following claims are prohibited at all times by the Federal Trade Commission:

• Causes weight loss of xx pounds or more a week for a month or more without dieting or exercise
• Causes substantial weight loss no matter what or how much you eat
• Causes permanent weight loss even after the product is discontinued
• Blocks the absorption of fat/calories in order to cause the person to lose substantial weight
• Safely enables users to lose more than xx pounds a week for more than xx weeks
• Causes substantial weight loss for everyone
• Causes substantial weight loss by wearing or applying product onto skin

The use of customer testimonials may be allowed if the claims are qualified by a clear and conspicuous disclaimer that results are not typical and that the results provided are actual results.

Advertisements do not show close-ups of body parts or images of torsos

Free Items

Teads may accept the use of the word free in advertisements if the product is clearly free and there is no fee or condition associated with receiving the product or service. If there are conditions, they must be clearly and conspicuously disclosed on the content and on the linked landing page.

Teads will not accept advertisements for the sale any products or services that are available for free. For example, certain government services are available for free and the advertiser wants to charge a fee for these services.

India:
The term “free trial” shall not be used where a non-refundable purchase is required.

Background Searches

Advertisements for background checks and people searches may be accepted on the Teads inventory provided that they do not promote access to arrest records or criminal history checks.

Content can never include mug shots or references to any criminal or questionable activity.

Motion Picture, Video Game and Television

Advertisements for motion pictures, theater and events may be acceptable if they follow the requirements below:

• All content must include ratings from the appropriate evaluation agency
• Placement and targeting will be according to the ratings (G, PG, PG-13, R and NC-17)
• Red band trailers must be limited to age-appropriate properties and shall always include appropriate warnings and an age-gate.

Advertisements for Video Games must include the rating from the evaluating agency and shall be targeted based on the rating (E, E10+, T, M, A). Advertisements for Adult Only (A) shall never be permitted.

Advertisements for music and musical events shall be allowed. For music that contains parental advisory labels, the advertisements shall only be placed on properties with appropriate context and audience composition.

Beauty Products and Services

Advertisements for beauty products shall be allowed on the Teads network so long as they comply with the requirements and prohibitions below and they comply with local laws, rules and regulations in the country or territory in which they will be displayed.

Advertisements cannot claim that the product or service can prevent, treat or cure any disease.

Advertisements cannot include any claim that the product can have an effect on the structure or function of the body or system beyond any visual cosmetic enhancement.

Any claims must be supported by clinical studies, consumer testing or scientific evidence.

Advertisements shall not include any claims that the product or service provide permanent or long lasting results.

Advertisements must be grounded in facts and reality and not create false or ludicrous expectations in a person.

If the advertisement includes before and after comparisons, these must be accurate and not presented in a deceptive manner.

Advertisements cannot include clearly and excessively photoshopped images that could induce the user to purchase the product solely on the image.

Advertisements cannot include claims that the products or services are as effective as prescription or medical services.

India:
Advertisements should adhere to all regulations on advertising skin lightening or fairness improving products.

Healthcare, Pharmacies and Medications

Advertisements for healthcare, pharmacies and medications are subject to additional guidelines that can be found HERE.

Any advertisement in this category will have to be approved by Teads before it is displayed.

India:
Advertisements in relation to human organ transplants or pre-natal sex determination is prohibited.
Advertisements for medical practices and services which has the effect of soliciting patients, whether directly or indirectly, is prohibited.

Food

Advertisements for food products are generally accepted on the Teads inventory.

Advertisements for baby formula, feeding bottles, rubber nipples or baby food shall be prohibited in Brazil, India, United Kingdom and Vietnam.

Advertisements for products that claim to have specific health related benefits are prohibited.

Advertisements for food in China must not include any endorsements or recommendations from medical doctors, institutions, practitioners or experts.

Psychics, Tarot Readings and Fortune Tellers

Advertisements for psychic services, tarot readings and fortune tellers shall be prohibited on the Teads network unless these services are just for the purpose of entertainment. However, these shall never be accepted in Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, India, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, United Arab Emirate and Yemen.

Religion and Community

Advertisements for religion shall be limited on the Teads network and shall require previous approval from Teads.

Any advertisement promoting one religion over another shall never be allowed.

Advertisements cannot include any content that is likely to offend or upset consumers which includes but is not limited to language, visual representation, signage or messaging being used to promote a particular religion, or promote disharmony or feeling or enmity/ill-will amongst religious and/or caste/community groups, as the case may be.

Advertisements cannot include any content that is likely to offend or upset consumers which includes language being used to promote a particular religion.

Advertisements must accurately represent the religion and the content of the website.

The advertisements may never request or solicit funds for a religious group and may not link to a fundraising landing page.

India:
Advertisements must not contain statements, visual representation, signage or messaging causing discord or enmity amongst castes, communities or religious groups, or upset public tranquility.

Content Standards

Landing Page

The advertiser’s landing page’s primary purpose cannot be advertising; it should contain quality, original content and be directly relevant to what is advertised in the ad copy.

The advertiser’s landing page must link to a working page and should be compliant with all other Teads ads policies.

The advertiser’s landing page should not contain disruptive pop ups or pop unders, automatic downloads, or fake functionality.

The advertiser’s landing page must match the product or service that was advertised.

The advertiser’s landing page must not redirect users to a different domain.

The advertiser’s landing page must be free of any prohibited content, like defined in the section above.

Advertising Copy

Ad copy should use proper grammar and spelling.

Excessive use of capitalization, punctuation, or symbols is prohibited.

Punctuation, symbols, and spaces should be limited.

Ads or destinations that do not name the product, service, or entity they are promoting are prohibited.

Ad copy must be original. There shall be zero tolerance for plagiarism and trademark/copyright infringement.

Images

Images that are misleading, excessively cropped, or which are otherwise of low quality or resolution are prohibited.

Close up images of flesh, food products or otherwise are generally prohibited

Before and after images are prohibited.

Images cannot employ deceptive tactics to lure a user to click. For instance:

• Images that pretend to be a system or site warning
• Images that use irrelevant sensational tactics
• Images that uses video player icon

Use of national emblems such as flags, seals, etc for commercial purposes shall be prohibited at all times unless expressly specified as legal by applicable regulations. Where expressly specified as legal for use by applicable regulations for commercial purposes, any content depicting burning, mutilation, defacement, defiling, disfiguring, destroying, trampling upon or otherwise shows disrespect or brings into contempt, whether by words, symbols, messaging or acts, to a national emblem or any part thereof shall be prohibited at all times.

Video

Video and audio must be of clear quality, must contain recognizable visuals, and content must be clearly understandable.

Videos cannot employ deceptive tactics to lure a user to click. For instance:

• Videos with fake player buttons (Play/Pause, Skip Ad…)
• Images that pretend to be a system or site warning
• Images that use irrelevant sensational tactics

Endorsements and Testimonials

In the cases that advertisements include endorsements and/or testimonials, the content must make it clear that it is and advertisement. If using the image of a celebrity or prominent person, the advertiser must have the appropriate permissions to use said likeness.

India:
Where content involves an influencer, the advertisement must be compliant with the Advertising Standard Council of India’s Code for Self-Regulation, and carry a disclosure label identifying it as an advertisement that is upfront and prominent so it is not missed by an average consumer, and is presented in a manner that is well understood by the average consumer.

Environment and sustainability

We draw your attention to the fact that some countries have adopted legislation or created independent authorities to ensure self-regulation of the advertising sector with regard to the environment and sustainable development. We list here a few examples to illustrate this and direct you to the appropriate bodies.

France:
In France the self-regulation authority operated by the industry is the Autorité de régulation professionnelle de la publicité (ARPP). The ARPP can be consulted to validate that a specific Ad complies with deontological rules. This is something that is only mandatory for TV and VoD ads.

In addition, several laws apply to advertising in France and more specifically to environmental claims. See this list of legal resources from the ARPP.

Some laws are dedicated to specific sectors:

• Law 2020-105 of 10 February 2020, known as the “AGEC” law, expressly prohibited all-encompassing claims such as “biodegradable” or “environmentally friendly”.
• Automotive ads need to showcase a standardized carbon emissions label since december 2021.

Starting from the 1st of Jan 2023, all sectors need to comply with rules regarding carbon offsetting and carbon neutrality claims in their messaging. These rules require to be able to justify these claims. Concretely it means that we can no longer have ads saying a product, a service or even a company is carbon neutral as they wouldn’t be able to justify it. Such neutrality claims should be avoided in the French market (and beyond for ethical reasons).

Additional resources to avoid greenwashing: anti greenwashing guide shared by the ADEME.

UK
In the UK the self-regulation body is the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). The ASA applies the Advertising Codes, which are written by the Committees of Advertising Practice (CAP and BCAP), to advertising across all different types of media.

Resources:

• General Information on Climate Change and Environmental Claims – Link
• Advertising Guidance – misleading environmental claims and social responsibility – Guide
• Making environmental claims on goods and services – Guide

For pre-publication advice on specific non-broadcast advertisements, consult the CAP Copy Advice team via their online request form.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has also developed a Green Claims Code – which sets out 6 key points to check your environmental claims are genuinely green.

Belgium
In Belgium the Association of Communication Companies (ACC) is the self-regulatory body. They published a specific code for environmental claims.

They also initiated the Towards Zero Greenwashing initiative detailing principles to apply and a guide.

The Jury for Ethical Practices in advertising (JEP) can be consulted before a campaign is launched to proof an ad.

USA
The FTC published in 2012 a Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims (“Green Guides”). These guides are planned to evolve in the short term.