Creative policy

Products we never advertise

Alcohol

Drinks, brands, bars and alcohol-branded merchandise.

Tobacco and vaping

Cigarettes, e-cigarettes, vapes, nicotine pouches, cannabis and their accessories.

Gambling

Betting, casinos, lotteries, sweepstakes casinos, loot boxes sold for money and skin gambling.

Dating and relationships

Dating apps, matchmaking and companion chat services.

Weapons

Firearms, ammunition, knives sold as weapons, fireworks and realistic replica guns.

Adult content

Sexual products and services, and suggestive or violent imagery.

Political and issue ads

Candidates, parties, elections, ballot measures and campaigns on social or political issues.

Drugs and supplements

Prescription and over-the-counter medicines, diet and weight-loss products, and supplements.

Financial products

Loans, credit, buy-now-pay-later, trading, crypto-assets and get-rich schemes.

Cosmetic procedures

Surgery, injectables and other cosmetic treatments.

Media rated for older audiences

Films, shows, games and apps rated above G, U, PEGI 3 or ESRB Everyone, or an equivalent.

Food and drink

All food and drink, including brand-only ads from companies that sell food high in fat, salt or sugar.

Charities

Ads from charities and other good causes. We may accept them in a later version.

Data collection

Offers that ask for personal details, such as sign-ups, quizzes, surveys and contests.

Unmoderated chat and social apps

Services where children could talk with strangers.

Deceptive or harmful offers

Scams, miracle claims, malware, fake downloads and anything illegal where it is shown.

Products we advertise with conditions

Games, apps, films and shows

Rated G, U, PEGI 3 or ESRB Everyone, or an equivalent, with the rating shown. In-game purchases must be stated, and the ad may not push them.

Toys and products for children

Shown as they are, at their real size, doing what they really do.

Paid services and subscriptions

The ad must say when something costs money. Free trials must say what happens when they end.

Education

Learning products and courses, with no promise of grades or results.

Honest ads, no pressure

• Be truthful. Every claim must be one you can prove, and the image must show the product as it is, at its real size.
• No pressure to buy: no "buy now", "ask your parents", countdowns, "only today" or "last chance", and no "only" or "just" in front of a price.
• Never suggest that someone is less popular, clever or grown-up without the product.
• Show prices plainly, and say when something is sold separately or needs batteries.
• Endorsements must be genuine, and any paid connection must be stated.
• Show nothing unsafe that a child could copy.
• No imitation of the site or a game: no fake buttons, close marks, scores, rewards, timers, alerts or system messages.
• No content that mocks, stereotypes or frightens.

Labels

Every slot carries a label we add: “Advertisement”, or “Sponsored” for the daily presenting sponsor. Your creative must not hide the label, imitate it or call itself anything else.

Landing pages

• The page the ad links to must match the ad, load over HTTPS and be suitable for every age.
• No pop-ups, automatic downloads, redirects to other offers or requests for personal details.
• The link may not carry tracking that identifies a visitor. We count clicks on our own server, without cookies.
• Before anyone leaves Joystyk, a page of ours says they're leaving and names your site's domain. They continue from there straight to your page.

Image specs

• A static image in AVIF, WebP or PNG, at twice the box size so it stays sharp on high-density screens, and no larger.
• At most 150 KB per image file.
• Alt text that says what the image shows, in 125 characters or fewer.
• A headline of 40 characters or fewer; the daily presenting line may run to 60.
• One link, to an HTTPS page.
• No HTML, JavaScript, animation, sound or video. Animated images may come later; we will say when.

Review

1. You send the images, headline, alt text, link and dates.
2. We check the content against these rules and the technical specs, and look at the landing page.
3. We approve the creative, or tell you what to change.
4. Only approved creatives run. We look again if the landing page or the product changes.

We may refuse any creative, and take down any ad at any time, if it breaks these rules or we judge it unsuitable for a young audience. When we take an ad down, we tell you why.

If an ad doesn't run

• If an ad can't run through our own fault, we refund the days it missed or run it for as many extra days.
• If we take an ad down because it breaks these rules, we refund only the days it has not yet run.