Simplifying Community Standards & Introducing Advertising Standards

Updates News & Alerts
#1

[Update] June 15, 2023

Hello Developers,

We want to take this opportunity to share some important updates regarding our Community Standards and introduce our Advertising Standards.

We understand you, our developers, are in the process of creating experiences on Roblox, and changes to these Standards may impact you. We appreciate you taking the time to familiarize yourself with the changes listed below and continuing to make Roblox a safe and positive place for everyone.

Simplifying our Community Standards

We want to make it easy for our community to understand our Community Standards so that we can all keep Roblox a safe and civil place, where users act with integrity and feel secure. To simplify our Standards, we restructured and consolidated categories, used more descriptive language, and referenced some helpful resources and tools. You can view these updates within the change log which is published at the end of our Community Standards. Any changes to the Standards will be listed here alongside effective dates.

As our community continues to evolve and our platform grows, these Standards will change too. To better understand these changes, you can visit the Roblox Safety and Civility site.

Effective Dates: All updates are effective immediately, except for the following which will be enforced starting June 15, 2023. These updates are now live.

  • Using the Roblox AreAdsAllowed field of the PolicyService API to programmatically prohibit ad content in experiences from exposure to users under the age of 13.

  • Complying with Prohibited Advertising Practices and Content introduced in the new Advertising Standards.

  • Adding more specific requirements around disclosing advertising content.

Updates to advertising on Roblox

Alongside our Community Standards, we are introducing Advertising Standards on Roblox. This is to provide a transparent experience for our community, advertisers, and ad publishers (you as the developers of experiences that serve ads) which builds on our foundation of safety and civility.

Determining whether your content is an Ad

Advertising can take many forms. If you are not sure whether your content is advertising, please consult applicable regulatory guidance and seek legal counsel as appropriate.

Generally speaking, advertising is content intended to promote the sale of an out-of-experience or off-Roblox product or service. As a starting point, you may wish to ask yourselves and your partners the following questions to determine whether certain content should be treated as advertising:

  • Do you consider or intend for the content to be advertising?

  • Were you paid to publish the content in order to promote a third-party’s product or service?

  • Does the content promote demand for a product or service available outside the experience where the content is placed?

  • Does the content promote attributes of a product or service, either expressly or implicitly (e.g., quality, price, features, performance, attributes, or benefits)?

  • Does the content promote where or how to purchase something available outside the experience?

  • Does the content contain a call to action encouraging the purchase of something available outside the experience?

Independent Advertisement Publishing Policy

Independent Ads are advertising content that you may publish on your own, without Roblox’s ad systems, as long as the implementation is compliant with our policies.

Independent ads may take many forms. For example, instead of using Roblox Immersive Ads, you may independently publish advertising content in your experiences.

Among other obligations, you are restricted from showing advertising content to people under the age of 13.

  • You must use tools such as the PolicyService API to replace, hide, or block access to advertising content for anyone who is disallowed from seeing ads.

Advertising Standards

Our Advertising Standards will apply to all ads appearing on Roblox whether they are Independent Ads or Roblox-served ads.

Here is a breakdown of what constitutes a Roblox-served ad, and an Independent Ad.

Roblox-served ads:

  • Advertisements served by Roblox that are placed outside of experiences, which are Sponsored Experiences, Sponsored Items, and User Ads; as well as ads served within experiences which are Roblox Immersive Ads (currently being tested with a small group of advertisers and publishers).

  • Roblox-served ads are purchased through and served by Roblox’s ad system.

Independent Ads:

  • Consists of advertising content that you, the developer, publish on your own, without Roblox’s ad systems.

  • Independent ads may take many forms.

All ads on Roblox, whether Independent Ads or Roblox-served ads, must comply with the Roblox Advertising Standards. Roblox users over the age of 13 may encounter Roblox-served ads and Independent ads.

As advertising evolves on our platform and we introduce Immersive Ads at scale later this year, we have made it clear in our Advertiser and Publisher Integrity and Prohibited Advertising Content sections of our Advertising Standards the practices and content categories Roblox prohibits in advertisements.

As a reminder, we will continue to enforce the following:

  • You must continue to clearly and prominently disclose to people ages 13 and older when content is an advertisement using simple and understandable language.

  • You are prohibited from making programmatic calls to third-party ad services. This policy is currently in effect, and violators are subject to moderation.

Additional Information and Resources

  • This is a great opportunity to take some time and familiarize yourself with these updates. Take a moment to evaluate whether you need to make changes to your experiences.

  • Advertising can take many forms. Consider these questions to determine whether content should be treated as advertising. If you are still not sure whether your content is an ad, please consult regulatory guidance or seek advice from legal counsel.

  • Keep in mind, different jurisdictions have various requirements for creators and brands involved in advertising. Because of this, you might have to make additional adjustments to ads within their experience. Be sure to check and follow all applicable laws before going forward.

  • We are providing information to help you and Advertisers better understand and adhere to our Advertising Standards. Check out the resources below:

  • It is your responsibility to ensure that your content on Roblox adheres to these new Advertising Standards, the Roblox Terms of Use, the Roblox Community Standards, and all applicable laws and regulations. Violations may result in actions against your account, including but not limited to account suspension or ad campaign suspension.

FAQ

Click here to view the FAQ.

Who is a Publisher?

  • A developer of an experience that serves ads.

Who is an Advertiser?

  • Advertisers can be brands, developers, creators, etc. They are entities buying ad space for their message.

What types of Ads are there on Roblox?

  • Roblox users over the age of 13 may encounter Roblox-served ads and Independent ads.

    Roblox-served ads include ads served by Roblox that are placed outside of experiences, which are Sponsored Experiences, Sponsored Items and User Ads; as well as ads served within experiences which are Roblox Immersive Ads (currently being tested with a small group of advertisers and publishers). Roblox-served ads are ads purchased through and served by Roblox’s ad system.

    Independent Ads are advertising content that developers publish on their own, without Roblox’s ad systems. Developers on Roblox are creative, and independent ads may take many forms.

    All ads on Roblox, whether Independent Ads or Roblox-served ads, must comply with the Roblox Ad Standards.

Are in-experience purchases ads?

  • Promoting in-experience purchases related to the core experience are not subject to our Advertising Standards as long as no out-of-experience or off-Roblox products or services are being promoted. Things such as gamepasses for people to purchase within an experience may not be considered advertising content since they are products/services that are an inherent part of a developer’s Roblox experience.

    However, one developer with content promoting a product/service in an experience made by another Developer would be in scope of the policy as that promotional content would be considered “out-of-experience.”

What is “out-of-experience” or “off-Roblox”?

  • Out-of-experience describes outside of the experience where the ad content is located. Off-Roblox is outside of the Roblox platform, including a creator’s real world merchandise.

Can we work with ad networks?

  • Roblox still maintains our long-standing policy prohibiting developers from making programmatic calls to third-party ad services. This policy is in effect, and violators are subject to moderation.

Are branded experiences ads? Can you tell me what content is within scope of your Advertising Standards?

  • Any developer on Roblox must determine whether any of their content (from a single image to the collective design of all the content in their experience) is an ad. Brands and their developers are responsible for making that determination and ensuring that the relevant content complies with our Advertising Standards and applicable laws and regulations wherever their ads may be seen by users.

Can developers still work with brands to sponsor their experience?

  • Yes, developers can still work directly with brands and include sponsored content in their experience, as long as that content is clearly marked and otherwise in compliance with Roblox’s Community Standards, Roblox Terms of Use, Advertising Standards, and all applicable laws and regulations.

    Any advertising content in an experience that does not comply with all of these requirements may result in the suspension of the experience or the developer’s account.

If I am showing independent ads in my experience, can I make programmatic calls to third-party ad services solely for analytics purposes only?

  • No. As stated above, Roblox continues to maintain our long-standing policy that prohibits developers from making programmatic calls to third-party ad services. If you are showing independent ads in your experience, programmatic calls to third-party ad services, even for the sake of analytics, are prohibited.

What is the PolicyServiceAPI?

  • For a developer to be compliant when running their own Independent Ads, developers must use the PolicyService API to replace, hide, or block access to advertising content to any users who are disallowed from seeing ads (i.e. under the age of 13).

    The PolicyService API offers a boolean for developers to dynamically affect ad-related content in their experience on a per-user basis without changing the Experience Guideline rating of the entire experience. This tool is a method of implementing compliance with the age threshold Roblox requires for advertising content. Learn more about complying with our Advertising Standards.

Will disclosing ads impact my search and discovery?

  • No.

Are any categories off-limits for advertising (guns, tobacco, porn, white supremacist merch, etc.)?

  • There are already many categories of content that Roblox does not allow on the platform in any context. Those are described in our Community Standards which govern all users on Roblox including, developers, brands, and advertisers. We have updated the Prohibited Advertising Content within our Advertising Standards with the practices and content categories Roblox prohibits in advertisements.

    These categories should be considered a layer on top of our foundational Community Standards. Our policies are intended to protect the community from advertising content that may expose them to dangerous, illegal, fraudulent, or otherwise harmful products, services, or activities.

Are all experiences that leverage IP/brands considered an ad?

  • No. Experiences from brands and IP holders continue to play an important role on our platform. Some brands and developers may determine that nothing in their experience qualifies as an ad, others may determine that specific content is an ad and thus must utilize the Roblox PolicyService API.

    Generally speaking, advertising is content intended to promote the sale of an out-of-experience or off-Roblox product or service. If you are not sure whether your content is advertising, please consult applicable regulatory guidance and seek legal counsel as appropriate.

Thank you.

253 Likes
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#2
Immersive Ads are rolling out!
#3

I am really worried for what this entails.

I am scared about the out of ROBLOX advertisements and the fact that people on ROBLOX will be able to put advertisements in their game.

I still don’t agree with the fact that only 13+ can see them though.

Will you get revenue for putting advertisements in your game? If so, how much? Is it required to have advertisements?

This will be very interesting.

94 Likes
#4

So we can have ads in our Experiences?

I have a question, if I advertise another Game, will they have to pay me?

51 Likes
#5

If an independant experience is using independant ads but is also using analytics services not conmnected to the indepedant ads, is this unacceptable?

Otherwise generally postive and non impactful change

57 Likes
#6

I do think this will be impactful, especially with in-game advertisements – if I read it right.

39 Likes
#7

From what I know there is curently no way of knowing if a Player is <13 or 13+, so that needs to be updated

35 Likes
#8

Would be expected that under 13 users would have AreAdsAllowed set to false.

39 Likes
#9

Yeah, but recently they have been forcing you to show your ID, which is a little better. But some security concerns with that, definitely.

Also, it would suck if you have to use an ID to show your age.

31 Likes
#10

Makes sense, makes sense…

The only problem is that someone might say they are 13+ but they aren’t actually, but you can’t do anything about it…

31 Likes
#11

Reading your original reply, I don’t see this. I work on a service already that provides advertising to our portfolio of experiences in line with the previous rules on advertising. Reviewing the changes, we believe that the impact on our services and thus the wider industry is not impactful and would be a postive move.

You’ve been able to do this for a while and there has been no material impact as described. You will earn a cut of the income from Roblox provided advertising as shown at RDC 2022. It would not be required and would represent a serious boost in income for those who did based on comments made by Roblox.

Let’s avoid cluttering the thread too much, feel free to DM me.

34 Likes
#12

Wow, really.

I suppose that you have always been able to do this, they are just allowing this to become more applicable.

I’m just worried that small games will end up advertising and become a lot like small grinding games.

Also this could bring into play no ads gamepasses.

27 Likes
#13

I think this point is rather overplayed in many discussions of age-gating content. As individual developers you carry zero liability here. If a player fails to correctly identify their own age, the burden is not on you for going forward with that incorrect age information in good faith.

As long as your content is adjusted for the age you are given by Roblox, regardless of the correctness or accuracy of that age, you yourself are doing nothing wrong and are in the clear. Even to some extent, Roblox is in the clear if a player misidentifies their own age, because there’s little to no way for Roblox to reasonably know that’s incorrect. Under the current model of how internet moderation works in today’s society, the onus is on parents for not moderating their child’s access to online content correctly; whether or not you believe that’s right is a question to bring to the courts of your country, not a developer forum.

52 Likes
#14

I know, we all know that it’s not our fault and we can’t get banned for this

30 Likes
#15

Are Roblox ads officially dead? It seems that no form of ads are allowed to be shown to <13 users.

I understand not showing “independent” ads to <13 users, as there may be some predatory ads, but why hide Roblox-approved ads, as well as sponsorships, literal random, not targeted ads?

These new updates are a pain. Roblox should at least explain why these changes are happening.

43 Likes
#16

Personally I think for the matter of only 13+ users can see adds should be changed.
One way I can think of for doing this is making a setting that parents can change with the parental controls. And again I understand why users under the age of 13 should not be able to see them cause there are some weird adds that get past moderation.

And about the adds. Pretty much everyone wants to know. Will we get paid for putting adds in are games for other peoples items. If you could explain more in depth on that would work that would be nice

24 Likes
#17

Reading through the Prohibited Advertising Content, I’m glad Roblox is putting their foot down and setting some boundaries here. With dozens of major brands entering the platform, it’s uncomfortable going on YouTube and seeing videos encouraging kids to claim five in-game tax refunds to get a free UGC accessory.

24 Likes
#18
  • Ads may not promote specific cryptocurrencies or specific blockchain-based assets.

Any reason why this states ‘specific’? What constitutes a ‘specific’ crytocurrency, the advertising guidelines are vague on this and while I don’t intend on implementing such ad, the vagueness worries me for possible future rules.

This makes no sense, branded experiences (such as the game-page which may contain branded content) cannot be locked to 13+ players and as a result any branded experience is breaking these guidelines, these guidelines don’t appear to have been thought through very well…

35 Likes
#19

Another day, another bad update…

28 Likes
#20

With the semi-overkill advertising restrictions and ID verification incentives, I sadly bet someday Roblox is gonna debate whether to ban all users under 13. I do believe some creators and players would support that but there are a lot of reasons why they should not; most importantly a majority of people started Roblox when they were under 13 including yours truly.

21 Likes