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Trafficking or exploitation

Note

To ensure consistency worldwide, Microsoft Advertising enforces our policies across our ad network using the English version. We provide translated versions as a courtesy to our clients, though the translations are not meant to change the content or meaning of the official policy language.

Important

This policy applies to all ad types.

Note

This page was last updated on April 20, 2026.

As part of Microsoft’s commitment to ethical advertising practices, ads that advocate, glorify, promote, or facilitate human exploitation are prohibited. This includes ads that promote the following:

  • Human exploitation

    • Human trafficking
    • Illegal child labor
    • Forced, coerced, or involuntary labor
    • Any service or content that enables, normalizes, or profits from exploitation

  • Transactional international matchmaking and coercive relationship models, such as services that commodify people or treat romantic or marital relationships as a purchasable outcome. This includes, but is not limited to:

    • “Mail-order spouse/bride” services
    • Romance tours/dating tours that present people as inventory or part of a purchasable experience
    • Services that guarantee, sell, or promise marriage, a spouse/partner, or exclusive access to a specific person in exchange for payment
    • Business models where paying more increases access to individuals (e.g., “premium” access to “more desirable” people, pay-per-reply, pay-per-message, pay-per-minute chat, or fees tied to responsiveness or availability)
    • Ads or sites that promote control, compliance, or entitlement over another person (e.g., framing individuals as “submissive,” “obedient,” or “traditional” as a selling point in a way that suggests imbalance or coercion)

  • Exploitative business models that leverage or exploit socioeconomic vulnerabilities, such as disparities in wealth, immigration status, age, social power, or economic vulnerability to facilitate imbalanced or coercive relationships. This includes, but is not limited to:

    • Marketing relationships as a path to economic rescue or dependency.
    • Using immigration or relocation as a primary selling point tied to matchmaking.
    • Encouraging arrangements where one party’s financial leverage is positioned as the basis for relationship access or control.

What happens when an ad policy is violated

The penalty varies by the nature of the violation, and the number of violations. Learn More

Note

Go back to Disallowed Content

Additional resources

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