Advertising laws and regulations by industry

Any category where a regulator or a platform restricts what you may claim, who you may target, or whether you may advertise at all. In practice that is 24 categories — cannabis, gambling, alcohol, firearms, tobacco, healthcare, finance, insurance, credit, housing, employment, politics and others. Everything else runs on the universal rules: substantiate your claims, price honestly, disclose endorsements.

Topical CBD only, and only with certification. Google allows topical hemp-derived CBD under 0.3% THC in approved US states once you hold LegitScript CBD certification. Meta requires prior written permission plus active LegitScript certification, US-only, 18+. Ingestible CBD — oils, gummies, capsules — remains prohibited on both, and on TikTok.

Barely, and only if you are licensed. Google runs a Canada-only, Search-only pilot through 31 December 2026 for Health Canada licence holders and provincially authorised retailers. Everything else is closed, and the Cannabis Act itself bans testimonials, endorsements, lifestyle depictions and any depiction of a person, character or animal — so even permitted promotion is far narrower than normal advertising.

A declaration Meta requires for ads about credit and financial products, housing, employment, or social issues, elections and politics. It exists because anti-discrimination law reaches ad targeting. Declaring it removes targeting by age, gender, ZIP code and detailed demographics, and imposes a minimum location radius. Meta's classifiers can apply it automatically from your imagery, so declare it yourself.

Three, plus CBD. Online pharmacies, telemedicine providers that prescribe, and addiction treatment services need it for Google and Meta; CBD advertisers need the separate CBD certification. In-person clinics — dental, chiropractic, physiotherapy, cosmetic — do not need LegitScript, which is the single most expensive myth in healthcare advertising.

No. OpenAI's ad policies prohibit legal advice, legal representation and consumer legal services, explicitly including immigration, personal injury, claims and document preparation. This is one of the sharpest divergences between platforms: Google and Meta run law-firm ads under ordinary rules, while ChatGPT Ads excludes the category outright.

Substantially. Canada limits prescription-drug advertising to name, price and quantity, bans most cannabis promotion outright, requires income claims to reflect typical earnings, and — in Quebec — requires French to be markedly predominant. A campaign that is compliant in the US frequently is not compliant in Canada without a rewrite, which is why this tool covers both.

Set by your state bar or provincial law society, and stricter than any platform rule. Following ABA Model Rules 7.1–7.3, communications must not be false or misleading, specialty claims are restricted to actual certifications, firm identification is required, and solicitation is limited. Most jurisdictions also require a disclaimer that past results do not guarantee future outcomes.

Yes. Regulators pursue the advertiser whose product is sold, and licensing bodies discipline the licensee whose name is on the ad. Agencies can be liable too, but that does not transfer your exposure. Review claims before they run, keep the substantiation, and treat your agency's compliance assurances as a starting point rather than a defence.

Yes — the Charter of the French Language, amended by Bill 96. French must be markedly predominant in commercial advertising, meaning roughly twice the visual impact of any other language. For dynamic displays, the French must show twice as long. Quebec also has its own financial, health and election regulators, and Law 25 governs consent for advertising data.