On YouTube, ads for alcoholic beverages are few and far between — but that’s about to change. Starting on October 30, Google will implement a new policy that will enable some amount of personalization on ads for alcohol brands.
Alcohol ads are currently permitted on YouTube, but significant restrictions hinder their reach. Personalized targeting is disabled for those spots (for now), users can opt out of being served alcohol ads, and no alcohol references are permitted in banners on the YouTube homepage.
Because of all those policies, alcohol brands haven’t typically seen YouTube as an efficient medium for ads. Many of the alcoholic beverages referenced on YouTube are products affiliated with particular creators.
Subscribe to get the latest creator news
So why is Google changing its tune? A post cites “customer interest, emerging categories, and improved controls and data protections” as three factors informing the new policy. It’s also possible that YouTube’s competitors forced Google’s hand. On TikTok, age verification tech has enabled the proliferation of alcohol ad campaigns, which have featured creators like Sabrina Brier.
No matter the true explanation for Google’s update, the new policy will open up a world of possibilities for purveyors of boozy beverages. Personalization will be turned on for a wide range of alcohol-related products, enabling more effective targeting where available.
Those two words — where available — are an important caveat. In countries with stronger restrictions on alcohol, like Egypt, India, Indonesia, and Poland, the new layer of personalization will not be available. Age restrictions on alcohol ads will also remain in place, and advertisers will be unable to incorporate a user’s health data related to alcohol when targeting them.
So it won’t exactly be open season for alcohol ads on YouTube, but if you start seeing more beer, wine, and spirits in your mid-rolls, you’ll know why. As more sophisticated ad tech solutions continue to come through the pipeline, Google may have more opportunities to relax its standards.
