Microsoft Advertising Verification Required For Financial Services Advertisers In UK

Microsoft announced that if you do financial service ads in its network, like on Bing Search, in the UK, you will need to be verified in early 2023. “Starting early 2023, we’ll allow only advertisers duly authorized by the UK Financial Conduct Authority ( FCA) to present regulated financial promotions in the UK,” wrote.

Advertisers will be required to provide proof of authorization by the UK FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) to present Financial Promotion Ads or specify if they are either:

• A non-financial services advertiser who may target consumers seeking financial services, such as e-commerce platforms, or
• Government entities such as authorities or regulators under the “.gov.uk” domain.

Microsoft added that these requirements are in addition to the Advertiser Identity Verification requirements laid out by Microsoft as part of its safety measures to protect consumers, advertisers, and publishers. And that filure to complete this verification process will result in ads being blocked from serving in the UK—the account will continue to perform as before with respect to non-Financial Services Ads and in markets outside of the UK.

You can initiate the UK Financial services verification through the Verifications page within Preferences. Please have the following information ready; business details (name, address, and email address), the 6-or 7-digit UK FCA registration number (FRN), if applicable domain details used to showcase financial services-related advertising. This includes domains registered with the UK FCA and domains and websites used for advertising on Microsoft Advertising that aren’t in the UK FCA registry.

You can learn more on how to start this process over here.

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