Brand Suitability
Part of Gaming brand suitability
Defining categories of games a brand will avoid
Turn brand concerns into clear game exclusion definitions, thresholds, buying controls and exception rules.
Define avoided game categories so a buyer can recognise them and a seller can apply them. State the concern, the threshold for exclusion and what happens when a game cannot be classified confidently. A genre name alone rarely describes the relevant content or ad context.
Describe the concern
Separate product-specific restrictions from brand preference. A brand might exclude games with simulated gambling, review realistic combat individually and accept stylised competition. These are illustrative choices, not universal risk ratings. Specify whether the concern lies in the whole game, a scene beside the ad, the likely audience or a combination.
Australian classification ratings can help describe content. A rating may serve as a screening rule, but it does not encode every brand preference or establish who receives an ad.
Australian Game Classification Ratings Overview
- Classification Rating
- G – General
- Classification Rating
- PG – Parental Guidance
- Classification Rating
- M – Mature
Connect the rule to available controls
Give each avoided category a short definition, examples it includes and examples it excludes. Then ask each buying platform or seller how its controls map to that definition and how it handles unidentified games. The IAB Content Taxonomy offers shared language for describing content; it does not establish that a particular seller applies the same labels or exclusions.
Display & Video 360 help pages cover brand suitability and app, channel, and website targeting. Those settings may be broader or narrower than a brand’s rule.
Confirm the effective settings for each deal and use the most specific targeting or exclusion controls available where a theme is insufficient.
| Policy field | Decision to record |
|---|---|
| Definition | What content or context triggers avoidance? |
| Threshold | Is any appearance enough, or only prominent or graphic treatment? |
| Scope | Does the rule cover a whole game, scene, ad surface or audience? |
| Unknown status | Will unidentified inventory be held, reviewed or excluded? |
| Enforcement | Which seller control or app list applies? |
| Exception | Who may approve it, for what scope and until when? |
Check the effect of the rule
Ask for an estimate of the inventory each exclusion would remove and examples of approved games a broad filter might catch. Review samples of included and excluded titles with the seller before launch. This is a planning check, not proof that the control has worked in delivery.
Keep the category list and corresponding platform settings together. Revisit both after a material game change or an unexpected placement so the written rule and actual buying controls continue to match.
