Can I advertise dating apps on Meta, Google, and TikTok?
Direct answerDating ads can run after you have platform permission and an 18+ audience. Meta requires prior written permission via its dating form. Google requires Dating and Companionship certification (General vs Restricted). TikTok requires a sales representative in allowed markets. Hook-up, sugar, infidelity, and mail-order positioning are widely prohibited or pushed into a tighter restricted bucket. Permission does not waive personal-attributes copy rules.
This is not the prohibited vs restricted explainer
Dating is a restricted SKU on prohibited vs restricted ads. This page is the operating checklist: which form to file, which certificate, which lines still fail. Second-person diagnoses are Meta personal attributes. Ads that can reach teens are child-directed and teen ads— dating does not belong there.
What counts as a dating ad
Meta’s advertising policy on dating says you are running a dating ad if you promote online or offline dating, matchmaking, or dating facilitation (example: dating profile management). You are not, if you promote literature or entertainment around relationships (documentaries, TV, games) or social apps without matchmaking (meetup apps).
Google’s Dating and Companionship policy covers general dating services that are not discriminatory, exploitative, or deceptive, including sexual-orientation-based dating, matchmaking, matrimonial or facilitation services, consensual preferences based on background or interests, and livestream/chat apps whose primary focus is meeting new people — if they do not allow users under 18 and the advertiser is certified.
TikTok files dating under Adult content (updated August 2026 in the copy we reviewed). Dating-app ads must not be discriminatory, exploitative, dishonest, or sexually inappropriate. Apps purely designed for casual sex are not allowed.
Permission gates
| Platform | Gate | Age / geo |
|---|---|---|
| Meta | Prior written permission; form; ~30-day decision aim | 18+ only |
| General Dating and Companionship certificate, or Restricted certificate | Age and country restrictions; not eligible in a published list including Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Yemen, and others on the live page | |
| TikTok | Work with a TikTok sales representative; store or website landing page | 18+; not allowed in Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia (live list) |
Google’s certification review can include existing ads, the landing page, and post-login content. You must provide CID, app IDs or landing-page domains (including YouTube.com if that is the destination), and working test credentials if the service is gated. Google says violations of this policy will not lead to immediate account suspension without prior warning (at least 7 days).
General vs restricted vs prohibited (Google)
General (certified): ordinary dating and companionship, Search / Display / Video.
Restricted (certified, Search only, plus age, local law, and SafeSearch): aggregators that list or rank dating sites; racy content such as lingerie in sexualized imagery; dating explicitly focused on sexual themes or encounters (hook-up, fling, swinger, affair, fetish; livestream/chat with nudity or sexually suggestive content).
Prohibited: compensated dating or sexual acts (sugar dating, including “sugar daddy/baby” language; prostitution, escorts, hostess, cuddling-for-pay, sex tourism); deceptive dating (synthetic profiles or chatbots without a clear, conspicuous disclosure where users will notice); exploitative dating; mail-order spouses and transactional international matchmaking; underage dating themes; landing pages that do not match the ad.
What Meta and TikTok still ban after permission
Meta does not allow: dating sites with an emphasis on sexual encounters; sexually suggestive emphasis (near nudity, implicit sexual activity); transactional relationships (mail-order brides, dating in exchange for money); affairs or infidelity services; connections with fictitious groups or individuals. Ads still must follow Adult Sexual Solicitation, Adult Nudity, Privacy, Personal Attributes, and Fraud standards.
TikTok’s not-allowed list for dating apps includes: portraying single life as a negative lifestyle; models that appear 21 or younger; adult or sexual services; sexually explicit or suggestive content; explicit exposure; provocative body language; excessive skin; infidelity; international/mail-order brides; compensation exchanges; sugar dating.
Copy that fails after you are allowlisted
| Risky | Safer (if the product is actually general dating) |
|---|---|
| “Still single at 40? We know you’re lonely.” | “A dating app for adults who want long-term relationships.” |
| “Find a sugar daddy tonight.” | Do not run this. Sugar dating is prohibited on Google and TikTok and transactional on Meta. |
| Lingerie hero + “no strings” + 18–24 lookalike | If the product is hook-up dating, Google’s Restricted certificate is the honest path — and Meta/TikTok may still refuse. If it is general dating, recut the hero. |
| AI companions with no disclosure | Google requires a clear, conspicuous disclosure for synthetic profiles and chatbots. Meta disallows fictitious individuals. |
Setup workflow
- Confirm it is actually a dating product: matchmaking or facilitation, not a meetup app or a reality-TV trailer.
- Apply before you scale: Meta form (30-day aim), Google Dating and Companionship cert in-account (General vs Restricted), TikTok sales representative in allowed markets.
- Lock 18+ everywhere. Do not use teen placements. Google also excludes a published list of countries.
- Strip sexual-encounter positioning, sugar/compensation language, AI profiles without a clear disclosure, and personal-attribute hooks.
- Open the app logged out. Post-login content is part of Google’s review. If the first screen is hook-up content, the Restricted certificate — or a reject — is the honest path.
If Google labeled Personalized advertising because dating is a sensitive interest, drop Customer Match — see remarketing restrictions. Certification is a different form from advertiser verification.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need Meta’s permission to run Facebook dating ads?
Yes, if you are promoting online or offline dating, matchmaking, or dating facilitation (including profile-management services). Meta requires you to submit its form and receive prior written permission, target 18+, and follow the rest of Advertising Standards. Meta aims to contact you within 30 days. Literature, TV, or games about relationships, and social apps without matchmaking, are out of scope.
Does Google require a dating certification now?
Yes. Google’s Dating and Companionship policy requires certification to serve those ads. There is a General certificate (Search, Display, Video, with age and country restrictions) and a Restricted certificate (Search only, for restricted dating such as aggregators, racy imagery, or explicitly sexual/hook-up positioning). Uncertified advertisers cannot run the category. Japan has an extra Online Dating Services certificate and an “18禁” / “18+” warning in the ads.
Can I advertise a hook-up app?
Meta does not allow dating sites with an emphasis on sexual encounters, sexually suggestive emphasis, transactional relationships, affairs/infidelity, or connections with fictitious people. Google places hook-up, fling, swinger, affair, and fetish dating in Restricted Dating (cert + age/country/SafeSearch limits) and prohibits sugar dating, escorts, and compensated companionship entirely. TikTok does not allow dating apps purely designed for casual sex, infidelity, or sugar dating.
Can I say “Still single at 40?” in the primary text?
That construction asserts something personal about the viewer. Meta’s personal-attributes policy still applies after dating permission. Describe the product: “A dating app for adults who want long-term relationships.” The rewrite playbook is the personal-attributes article.
Sources
- Meta: About Meta’s advertising policy on dating
- Google Ads: Dating and Companionship
- TikTok: Adult content (dating apps)
Dating advertising is dual-regulated (platforms plus local law). Permission lists and Google’s certificates change. This page is a reading of public policy pages as of September 20, 2026. It is not legal advice and not a guarantee of approval. Recheck the live articles before you spend.
Scan dating copy after the form is in
LaunchGuarding flags personal-attribute hooks and sexual-solicitation phrasing that still fail after Meta or Google allowlists the account.