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Microsoft Advertising Network policies

Disallowed content

30 June 2023

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Offensive, harmful, or violent content

Offensive or harmful content

  • Offensive or obscene graphics or language that facilitates, promotes, or uses offensive, distasteful, vulgar, gross, inappropriate language, profanity, or applies scare tactics, contains scary, threatening or sexually suggestive text, images, or situations (includes cartoons or animations) is prohibited.
  • Depictions of body parts, cross sections of organs, and bodily functions are not allowed.
  • Content or services that promote unhealthy or harmful activities, or lifestyles, including those related to bulimia, anorexia, feedism, etc. are prohibited.

Defamatory, slanderous, libelous, or threatening content

Advertising is not allowed if the ads, keywords or sites contain racial or religious epithets, advocate doing physical harm to people or their property, encourage conduct that is likely to cause personal or public safety, encourage conduct that jeopardizes the natural environment, advocate against any individual, business (and/or its products) or group, is capable of harming the physical, intellectual, or moral development of children or young persons, or contain claims that appear unquestionably false. Inflammatory or slanderous language, or language which may imply violence is not allowed.

Hate speech

Advertising that facilitates or promotes hate speech is not allowed. This includes content and targeting that is intended to degrade, intimidate, or incite violence or prejudicial action against people based on their race, gender, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability, or other differentiating factors.

Suffering and violence

  • Advertising that advocates, glorifies or promotes violent activity, rape, torture, cannibalism, human suffering or death, self-harm, violence, and/or cruelty against animals, or graphic or violent images, such as images showing blood, dismemberment, accidents, or dead bodies is prohibited.
  • If an image contains a weapon, it must be contextually relevant to the product/service being offered. The weapon cannot be the focal point of the image.
    • Exception: Product ads for compliant weapons in allowed markets may contain images of the product as the focal point.
  • Any content that shows guns pointed at the audience is not allowed.
  • Content that shows blood spatter or excessive blood, cruelty, violence, glorification of crimes, depictions of people or creatures on fire and/or showing actions that result in bodily harm or fatalities is not allowed.